Actions Speak Louder than Words
by halfbreedfox
Summary: Kotetsu and Barnaby uncover more questions than answers concerning a NEXT who works for the police but can't be trusted. While helping her out, the pair also become better partners and gain deeper insight into themselves. (Will be Kotetsu/Barnaby in later chapters. I'm building up to it :3)
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

"Come on, old man. I don't want to miss the interrogation." Barnaby called over his shoulder to his lagging partner, his hand resting on the door handle to the police station. The older man, with his mask across his eyes, trotted behind.

"We have plenty of time, Bunny." He said as the blonde man opened the door for both of them to go through. He entered first so the younger man would stop scolding him. "The detectives have to let the criminals sweat a little before they can get anything out of them."

Barnaby quickly entered the building behind Kotetsu, choosing not to argue any further. Inside, there were many people moving about at brisk paces, a man or two was even jogging about. Phones were ringing and everyone had notes to exchange or information to trade, so a constant hum was going on even in the main lobby. All the energy must have come from the recent arrest that Wild Tiger and Barnaby had just made. They had handed the offender over to the investigators, but the younger man was interested in the possible connection that he had with Ouroboros, so he insisted to the officers that he attend the questioning.

The blonde man walked up to the front desk where two young women were seated. Barnaby leaned over the high desk to try and get their attention. He pleasantly greeted them and he would have gave them a charming smile, but his quick pulse and the thudding in his ears made it hard for him to be charming. But he didn't need the smile; his looks did all the work for him. The women quickly took notice when he spoke up and they greeted him in a cheery manner. Kotetsu chose to lean against the desk, resting his chin in his hand as if he was bored. He let out a low huff.

"I'm here to witness the interrogation of Daniel Turner, the man I just turned in."

"Oh yes, Mr. Brooks." One of them said, rising from her seat. "We were informed of your arrival. Please, you and Wild Tiger may follow me." She walked around her work space and politely guided them through the police station's many halls, rooms, and offices. Barnaby and his partner followed her closely so as not to be separated.

"See, Bunny? You didn't need to rush." Kotetsu firmly patted his young friend on the shoulder in a reassuring manner, giving him one of his cheesy yet sincere smiles. The man only nodded in agreement, taking in a deep breath through his nose and trying not to appear as restless as he felt. Their nameless guide finally stopped in front of a door that had two, middle aged men dressed in suits standing in front of it. The men were quite taken away in the conversation they were having with each other until the woman interrupted them and introduced the heroes. A man with salt and pepper hair stepped forward to shake Barnaby's hand.

"It's good to see you, Mr. Brooks." He formally greeted, giving the young man's hand a firm grip and a hearty shake. His hands were large and hard from years of hard work. "You've come at the perfect moment. Detective Moor, go get our little detective for the second half." The other man, who had hair graying at his temples, gave a quick affirmative and walked down to hall and out of sight. He then extended his hand to Wild Tiger, which gave the man a little surprise since he was usually forgotten by the media when he stood next to Bunny.

"And you are…?" Kotetsu raised a curious brow at the senior officer shaking his hand.

"I am City Police Commissioner Clarkson. I thought that a criminal who had interested Barnaby Brooks is a criminal that I should look into personally." He unlocked the door he was standing in front of, opened the door and offered for the men to enter. The room inside had very little lighting, with a grey, rectangular table in the middle, several chairs pushed around it and a long, large window on one side of the wall. It was obvious what this room was.

Barnaby and Kotetsu entered the room but didn't take a seat. The atmosphere was heavy in an odd way. When they peered through the window, they saw exactly what they expected to see: Daniel Turner. He was still scuffed up, bruised and with a busted lip from the fight he lost with the hero tag-team just an hour or so ago. He had a bitter sneer across his face and his hands were cuffed to the arms of the chair he was sitting in. He was alone and didn't make any sign that he noticed the men enter from the other side of the one way window.

When the older partner turned to look at his blonde comrade, his brow knitted. His friend held his shoulders awkwardly, a sign that he was tense. His eyes stared forward at Turner, unblinking and held just a little too wide. His breathing was shallow, since his chest barely moved from the short breaths he was taking. Kotetsu's instinct was to reach out and say something to him, try to comfort him and bring Barnaby back. But he knew by now that such an action would be given a venomous response. So he took a deep breath and decided to leave the jittery rabbit alone.

Within a few minutes, the door to the hero's side of the interrogation room opened and Detective Moor walked through. Wild Tiger was expecting someone to follow him, but he shut the door behind him and revealed no second person. The man took a place next to his superior and discretely relayed something into his ear.

"You mentioned starting the second half of something, Commissioner Clarkson." The youngest man said. "Did you already start interrogating Daniel?"

"Yes." Was the short reply. "But the results were ambiguous, at best. Daniel Turner is untrustworthy; his answers are not consistent and he isn't cooperative in the least. Our first round of questioning didn't last long. Which is why it's so good you came early to witness the rest of it."

At that time, the door to Daniel's room opened and two people walked in. One was a young man dressed in a suit, but his tie was loosened and the top of his collar unbuttoned. The second was a girl who couldn't have been any older than a high school student. She wore plain civilian clothes, not marking her as a part of the police force. Kotetsu became a little worried as to why she was there, but became really anxious when the girl pulled a chair over to sit right next to Daniel. He and his partner exchanged a confused look with each other.

"I don't think it's safe to have a little girl in there, Commissioner." Kotetsu remarked.

"Just watch, Wild Tiger." And he urged his guests to be silent and listen while his subordinate handed over a small microphone to him.

The criminal leaned away from the girl at first, eyeing her suspiciously but quickly took to unleashing his foul mouth on her with an insult. The detective took a seat opposite of the offender, seated about two feet away from him, and quickly threatened Daniel to bite his tongue or face more charges in court.

"Because I know being tied to that chair hasn't been fun for you. But if you can't behave yourself, then you leave us no choice but to leave you here all alone for a few hours till you're ready to be civilized. So let's begin with the questions." The young man opened with some very general and easy questions that were routine before easing into the trickier ones. Daniel was in no good mood though and answered everything with a nasty quip and a colorful lie. After a few back-and-forths with the questioning going nowhere, Barnaby gave an annoyed humph. The girl remained seated and silent.

The young officer was getting fed up with it too. He made a wordless gesture with his right hand towards the girl, as if to wave her off but she didn't stand. Instead, she moved a free hand over to Daniel and placed it over his scarred hand, squeezing it tightly. The man flinched and opened his mouth to say something vicious but he paused and sat still. The girl began to emit a familiar blue light around her body and her eyes changed color. Instead of yelling and causing a ruckus, the criminal turned his head back to the detective questioning him. His back slouched in his chair, his eyes lost their fire and his whole body seemed to relax in his seat.

"So let's try this again: State your name, please."

"Daniel Turner." His voice was low and calm, a complete change from the fight he was putting up before.

The questioning continued without another struggle or crass remark from Daniel. He answered all questions faithfully and to the investigator's liking. Even to questions about motive and accomplices he answered flatly and without hesitation. It was kind of creepy to see the change in his personality and watch the answers just roll off of him so easily. Barnaby almost forgot why he came here in the first place. He quickly addressed the Commissioner.

"Sir, you haven't questioned him on his tattoo."

"Excuse me?" The older man seemed to be a little confused by the question and gave the blonde a queer look.

"The circle on his neck." The hero pointed to his own neck on the left side for emphasis. "It could be a gang symbol." The older man leaned in close to the glass to confirm. Indeed, a black semi-circle could be seen poking out through the top of Daniel's grungy shirt collar.

"You have a good eye, Mr. Brooks." Clarkson then spoke into his small microphone, the officer on the other side of the glass put his finger to his ear, and the superior officer instructed the man to ask about the half-hidden ink job.

"So what is that tattoo on your neck, Mr. Turner?" There was a pause and the offender turned his head, a little confused.

"It's a target." He moved to pull down his collar and reveal it fully, but was quickly stopped by the handcuff around his wrist. Barnaby scrunched his nose and furrowed his brow in confusion. Maybe the man was being cryptic.

"Is it a gang symbol?" Another pause.

"No."

"Can you ask him if it's an Ouroboros?" The young man requested from Clarkson. Clarkson gave a casual shrug and asked his man on the other side to ask.

"Is that an Ouroboros?" Daniel gave the detective a confused look as if he was unsure if he said an actual word.

"No?" He answered, hesitantly.

"Have you heard of a group called Ouroboros?"

"No." Kotetsu could see his partner clenching his hands and switching his weight between his feet. Barnaby wasn't convinced.

"I hope you don't mind that I take a look, hmm?" The officer stood up and moved to stand in front of Daniel. The criminal didn't make any sound or movement of protest. Instead, he actually moved his head to the side a little, a sign that he was okay with it. Kotetsu watched from the corner of his eye how anxious his young partner was. The interrogator was standing in the way of Barnaby's view, so even as he moved to take a look at the tattoo, the blonde hero couldn't see it himself.

"Looks painful."

"It was."

Then the investigator began wrapping up. He read the man his crimes and possible convictions that he could face in court, the punishments, and a lawyer being provided for him if he couldn't obtain one. At that moment, the interrogation room's door opened up and two men dressed in standard police uniforms came through, releasing Daniel's restraints from him. The girl calmly stood up and placed herself against the grey wall and out of the way, hands folded behind her back. When the criminal left the room, the detective motioned with his arm for the girl to follow and leave the room. The room was finally empty. Light suddenly burst into the room Kotetsu and Barnaby were in, slightly dazing them for a moment.

"Did you get what you were looking for?" The Commissioner asked the younger man, his hands clasped behind his back.

"No, I'm afraid not." The hero replied, dissatisfaction evident in his voice.

"But that girl NEXT sure was something. So young to be working for the police like this." Wild Tiger interjected. He was very entertained by the whole ordeal he just witnessed. "What is her power, exactly?"

"She's like a truth serum." Clarkson began, heading for the exit and offering the door to his guests. The pair followed him. "When she touches someone and exerts her power over them, the subject is forced to speak the truth. A power like that shouldn't go to waste, so we ask her to come around whenever we need help."

"That's amazing." Kotetsu mused to himself. "How old is she?"

"Sixteen." Clarkson answered. He began to escort Kotetsu and Barnaby from the building since there was nothing else he could for them. "I'm not comfortable letting someone so young work at a police station, especially since she has to be so close to the criminals, but she has a strong sense of justice that needs to be fulfilled."

"Can we see her?" The masked man asked. His partner in red gave a disbelieving look at him.

"Why on earth do you want to see her?"

"I just want to shake her hand and tell her how great she is for doing what she does!" Kotetsu defended. He too had a strong sense of justice. "At her age, I'm sure she must be scared from time to time dealing with criminals, but I think some praise will encourage her down this path, especially from some Heroes."

"Blue Rose is the same age as her, you know." Barnaby countered. Kotetsu stiffened. "Why don't you praise her more often? Or Dragon Kid, for that matter? She's much younger." Wild Tiger tried to shy away by breaking eye contact, scratching the side of his face in embarrassment.

"Blue Rose and Dragon Kid are very strong; I forget that they are just children, I guess. But you're right; I should praise them more often. They work so hard and are so brave despite being so young."

"Do you still want to see the girl NEXT, Mr. Wild Tiger?" Clarkson inquired, stopping his trek to get a firm answer and a sense of where he should go next.

"Yes, Mr. Comissioner!" Kotetsu bounced back to his cheerful self.

"Then follow me."

* * *

The two heroes met the high school student outside a back entrance from the police station building. This back exit was more discrete than and not as decorated as the front of the station. It also opened onto a smaller side street of the city, as opposed to one of the main streets that the front of the building faced. On their way, Mr. Clarkson had made a call on his cell phone to another police agent, asking him to wait and not depart home, for Wild Tiger wanted to see their youngest detective. Sure enough, standing next to a black car just outside this back exit were two people: the younger police man who had interrogated Daniel Turner, and the NEXT girl who had extracted the truth from the criminal.

"Mr. Barnaby Brooks Jr. and Mr. Wild Tiger, I would like to introduce Miss Eden to you." Mr. Clarkson opened. The girl gave a slight bow when mentioned.

She had short brown hair cut in a boy's style and big hazel eyes with some dark marks underneath, giving her a slightly tired appearance. She must have stood about as tall as Karina, but she had no other similarities with her. She was even less curvy than her peer. Her clothing was loose on her, and in her hands she carried a small notebook and pen. When she stood up, she moved as if to open her book, but was quickly seized by Kotetsu. He forwardly took her hand into his and began shaking it, catching the girl off guard.

"Hello, Eden!" The middle aged man quickly opened. "I just wanted to say I think it's great what you do at the police station! I know that your work makes a big difference for the department and I just wanted to reassure you of a great job you're doing! Do you think you would like to be a Hero someday? What with your amazing power! But now that I think about it, maybe this behind-the-scenes approach suits your talent best, hmm?" Kotetsu managed to let go of the girl's hand and looked back at his partner.

Barnaby could have melted from the embarrassing display the older man just put on, talking so quickly and excitedly like a little child. But he let out a deep sigh and then realized that Kotetsu had managed to stop himself from blabbering on and was actually looking at him. The slight pause also caused Eden to look at him too. Not wanting to appear unfriendly (he had an image to uphold, after all); the blonde man approached the girl, took her hand in a firm shake and praised her as well.

"Thank you very much for your hard work." He gave the girl a charming smile and felt pleased with himself when a faint shade of pink tinged her cheeks. He paused for a moment, waiting for a response from the girl, but it never came. Her big eyes seemed kind enough, but she remained quiet. Kotetsu was waiting for a response as well, but before either of the heroes could ask what was wrong, the Commissioner said something at the same time the girl pulled her hand away from Barnaby.

"Eden is mute, sirs."

The duo turned around at the same time, giving Mr. Clarkson a surprised look. That information would have been helpful to know beforehand. Now the two just felt like idiots. But the Commissioner just moved his hand to gesture behind them, pointing at the girl they had momentarily turned their backs on. They moved to face Eden again, and she made a gesture towards them. She brought her left hand up, the tips of her fingers touching her lips, and then extended her arm at the elbow in front of her towards the pair.

"She says 'thank you.'"

"Ah! That's so cool!" Wild Tiger exclaimed with a wide smile on his face. He mimicked the motion Eden had made, eager to practice what he had just saw. Barnaby was becoming slightly anxious, unsure if his partner's behavior would offend the girl. Instead, she gave a little smile and made another sign. She held out three fingers, put them up to her lips again and extended her arm forward, making a bounce or tumbling motion halfway through.

"That means 'you're welcome.'" Commissioner Clarkson was smiling.

Wild Tiger continued to mimic the girl's gestures, practicing and giggling like a child. He prompted his partner to give it a try. "Come on, Bunny! Be polite!"

Barnaby's face turned a slight pink from embarrassment, not wanting to mess up and say something rude by mistake. But he carefully and slowly moved his right arm and hand the way he saw Eden and Kotetsu did it, saying 'thank you' as he did so. The girl smiled and nodded her head at him, showing that what he did was correct.

She then took her pen and notebook from her side, flipped the book open in a flash, and jotted something down. She turned the book over for the Heroes to read it. Kotetsu read the message out loud.

"'Thank you for the kind words, but I must be on my way home now.' Okay then, Eden! Thank you for meeting with us!"

Eden placed her hands together, palms touching and held parallel to the ground. She moved the top hand across and way from her, and then she moved her hands so her index fingers were pointing upwards, her left hand close to her chest and her right hand further away. She then drew them together and almost touched.

"She says 'it was nice to meet you.'"

Finally, the schoolgirl climbed into the waiting car and her escort closed the door behind her. Once he placed himself in the driver's seat and turned on the engine, Eden waved out of the car window at the Heroes. Right before the car sped off, she moved her hands in front of her face, fingers curled around her cheeks and she made a motion as if she was clawing at herself twice. And then she quickly moved her hands up and placed them on either side of her head, palms facing away from her face. She bent them back quickly at the knuckle twice as well. She had a big grin on her face before she disappeared into the traffic.

Kotetsu and Barnaby were very confused. The Commissioner let out a laugh and the two men turned around to see what they had missed.

"What's so funny?" The elder partner asked. Mr. Clarkson composed himself quickly, but still had an amused smile on his face.

"It's nothing. She was just saying good bye." The pair seemed dissatisfied with his answer, judging by their flat stares at him. They didn't believe him. "Well, literally, she was saying 'good bye, Tiger,'" he copied the clawing signal she had made, "'and Bunny.'" He copied the hands-on-head backwards wave as well.

* * *

A/N: Thank you to everyone who read the story. :)


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

"Hello, Bunny!" Wild Tiger called out down the hall as he saw his partner coming from the opposite direction. He waved at him.

"Good afternoon, Ol—" Barnaby stopped in mid-sentence. He stood completely still and deeply embarrassed that his partner was waving his hands in a rabbit ear motion on top of his head, just like Eden did when she said good bye to them the other day.

"What is it, Bun—Oh, damn!" And Kotetsu took off down the hall, running back the way he came as Barnaby started after him with murder in his eyes.

* * *

"Good morning, everyo—" Barnaby tried to greet the office as he entered, but his voice caught in his throat when he saw his partner, Kotetsu, at his desk (for the first time ever arriving before the blonde did), waving his hands on top of his head like bunny ears.

"Good morning, Bunny!" He acted as if nothing was wrong. When Barnaby said nothing, standing perfectly still at the entrance, he slowly stopped his teasing. "Bunny?" The younger Hero slammed the door behind him with frightening force, the loud bang causing Wild Tiger to jump under his desk in fear of his partner.

* * *

Barnaby returned from his lunch break with some time to spare before his meeting with Alexander Lloyds. Deciding to take initiative and wait in the meeting office, the Hero entered the room and was surprised to see his older partner waiting patiently. He tensed up, but entered the room and took a seat next to Kotetsu (he would have rather sat opposite of his annoying companion, but knew that Lloyds would have preferred to sit there).

"Hello, Barnaby." Kotetsu greeted pleasantly, smiling. Alarm one: the old man was using his proper name.

"Hello, Kotets—" The blonde froze in mid-sentence. His partner moved his hands from the chair arms and to the table, stopping when Barnaby halted his greeting. He paused a minute, trying to read his partner through his goofy smile.

"Kotetsu,don't —" He held his breath again and Wild Tiger raised his hands level to his chest, still smiling devilishly. Another minute of pause. Barnaby was losing his patience.

"Old Man, if you—" Too late. Kotetsu was waving his hands on his head like bunny ears. His grin could have split his face.

"How was lunch, Bun—Ouf!" He was tackled to the ground and suffering the wrath of his partner in red when a man with greying hair and a high forehead entered the room. Alexander Lloyds gave a disappointing sigh at the sight of his two Heroes fighting on the floor.

* * *

"Good morning, Bunny!" Kotetsu cried out in the weight training room. He peered around a corner and caught sight of Barnaby on the treadmill. At the same time he called out, he held up his hands to his head and signed 'bunny' at his partner. The reaction was immediate and swift; Wild Tiger saw the shift in his partner's green eyes and decided the situation was suddenly not safe. The blonde hero jumped off of the treadmill and lunged forward. The older man quickly tried to escape.

"Damn you, Old Man!" Barnaby cried out, his honest emotions showing. He gave chase all around the exercise room, with his fellow heroes watching the madness ensue around them. Ever since the mute girl taught Kotetsu that sign, he abused every chance he could to show and call out to Barnaby with it. Barnaby didn't like his nickname as it was, but was even beginning to accept it from his partner. The hand signal with it as well though, drove him nuts. It just seemed to further humiliate him, almost degrading him as a hero.

But boy did Kotetsu love to use it. Not out of malice or loathing, but because it was too cute to not use on the younger man. Like the old man he was, he loved to tease those younger than him. Every day since he met Eden, he used the sign he learned and even taught it to his fellow Heroes. He even showed his own 'tiger' sign to them, boasting about how cool it looked. Only Dragon Kid seemed to agree with how cool and cute the signals were.

Despite having been on the treadmill before chasing after Kotetsu, Barnaby did manage to catch his prey by his collar and forced him to turn around. Both men were panting very heavily from the hunt, but Wild Tiger couldn't manage to lose his smile in such a bleak situation. Barnaby also couldn't lose the intensity in his eyes, despite how tired he was.

"Stop teasing me, Old Man!"

"I'm sorry, Bunny, but it's too much fun!" His blonde captor shook him by his collar quite vigorously.

"I mean it, Kotetsu! I can put up with the name, but please stop signing with that silly 'bunny' motion!"

"You mean, I can call you Bunny and you won't fight me on it anymore?" Barnaby stopped shaking his partner for a moment. He thought about it. Ideally, Kotetsu would just call him Barnaby and not tease him at all. That wish seemed unreachable at this point.

"So long as you can stop the rabbit ears motion…" He hesitated. He didn't want to give his permission for this pet name, but he hated the hand signal more. "… I guess you can call me Bunny." He said it so softly that Kotetsu almost didn't hear. Unintentionally, Barnaby's cheeks turned a faint pink color. The older man couldn't help but smile in spite of himself.

"If you feel that strongly about it, I can give up the bunny ears to call you Bunny." He gave a reassuring pat on the blonde man's shoulder, trying to show is honestly and good faith by being a little serious. The younger man gave a disbelieving blink before slowly letting go of Kotetsu's shirt. The man's grin widened to a point where it looked like it hurt, and a sinking feeling came from Barnaby's gut about what he just agreed to.

"Thank you." It seemed to be the appropriate thing to say, though he was unsure if the dark haired man would keep his promise.

"Oh? No more bunny ears?" A tall black man with pink hair cut close to his head spoke up. He and the rest of the heroes in the training room had heard the crazy run-around, but he was the first to show and speak up. "But they were so cute!"

Barnaby's eye twitched a little. Surely Nathan wouldn't push the matter back to Kotetsu teasing him again. He waited to see if his partner would uphold his promise.

"Yeah, the bunny ears were cute." Wild Tiger gave a sad smile. "But if Bunny doesn't want me to do it anymore, then I won't." He patted the younger man on his shoulder before taking off, giving him a slight wave and disappearing around a corner. Antonio, Keith, Ivan, Karina, and Pao-Lin poked their heads from behind another wall as Kotetsu left silently. All were quite stunned by the quiet departure of their boisterous co-worker. All curious eyes then landed on Barnaby, who felt like sweating under the heat of their gazes.

"What?!" He said very nervously, unable to control the volume of his voice.

"We can't believe you settled the matter so smoothly and quickly." The ninja hero piped up, prompted by the strangeness of the whole situation to speak first.

"Wild Tiger loves to tease. He would never be so easy to persuade under normal circumstances." Blue Rose elaborated, her light brown brows knitting together, as if unsatisfied that Barnaby could do something that she did not know how to do.

"What could all this mean, hmm?" The fire wielding Hero gave a suspicious glance with a hint of knowing, his flirtatious manner of speaking hinting at his meaning. But just to make sure, he gave a sly wink to the handsome man. The newest Hero tried to act like he didn't notice Nathan's comment, but the tinge of pink across his face betrayed him. He pushed up his glasses.

"It's nothing." Barnaby tried to brush off. "Just some persistence and persuasion. Even the Old Man can't ignore reason." He decided that sticking around with a bunch of people that didn't believe his explanation was asking for trouble, because everyone was still giving him strange looks, so he quickly excused himself and left the training room.

"Well, that was kind of awkward." Pao-Lin stated.

* * *

A/N: This chapter was half the size of the first. lol. Hope you all enjoyed it. :)


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

Three weeks had passed since The Hundred Power Duo had visited the Stern Build Police Department to look into Daniel Turner and met the mute NEXT girl. They had hardly thought about her (especially since Kotetsu stopped the bunny hand signals) until the news brought up a strange pattern of events that were happening to the criminals being held at the police station. The older man was watching a feed of the news on his computer and Barnaby was watching it from his desk, leaning over a bit to get a good look. A young and attractive woman was reporting from her desk at the news station with a picture of the police station in the top right corner of the screen.

"For the past month, a string of suicides have been taking place in the Stern Build First Division Police Department. Felons who have been admitted and accused of high profile crimes are killing themselves in their holding cells before trial."

"That's really creepy, eh, Bunny?" Kotetsu looked over at his partner, but the younger man didn't reply; completely focused on the news program.

"The police are not willing to give details or opinions on the matter. City Police Commissioner James Clarkson did give us a statement when the news station reporters called and asked about the situation. He says "All criminals who have committed suicide did belong to the same crime syndicate. It is possible that they are just following gang rules and killing themselves upon capture." No further information was given, and access has been denied by the media to enter the police station."

Kotetsu turned off the news program. "What do you think of it, Bunny?" Barnaby moved back to sit in his chair properly.

"It's strange, but not unusual. A lot of gangs have illogical codes and rules regarding capture like that, especially if there is a crime involved where one member has to rat out the others."

The older man leaned back in his chair. "That's really depressing."

* * *

Stern Build Police Department First Division Head Quarters is on fire.

Chaos ensues within the whole block: police cars blaring their sirens and lights, law enforcers running in and out of the building, desk workers and part-timers stumbling out of the exits and down fire escapes. Radios and cell phones receiving half garbled messages to each other with plenty of static and noise to make the effort useless. Helicopters with video cameras circle the block; their blades noisily whirring the air around them, and news vans congest the streets with their reporters trying the capture the unfolding event live with policemen shoving them away from the immediate area.

And finally the Heroes arrive.

Sky High is the first hero to appear on the scene, dropping out of the sky and pausing just long enough for the Hero TV cameras to recognize him and award him points. He talks with a senior officer briefly before taking to the sky again, heading for the tallest floor of the building and smashing his way through a window. Just minutes afterward, Barnaby and Wild Tiger appear on their pink motorbike and green sidecar.

"What happened?" The newest Hero demanded from the nearest officer to him, his helmet blocking his face. He didn't realize it at first, but when the man spoke he recognized him.

"A fucking plant!" He was the detective who interrogated Daniel Turner and drove Eden back home. "This man walks in claiming to have a visit with one of the criminals held here and he brought a bomb in with him. He blew it up during the security check."

"Come on, Bunny! We have a lot of people to evacuate!" Wild Tiger immediately jumped out of the side car and dashed through the front doors of the building. The pink partner felt like yelling back that his partner was too hasty, but knew that he words would go unheard.

"Who's still in the building?" He asked instead.

"Criminals, a few clerks. Most importantly, I haven't seen Commissioner Clarkson or Eden come out."

"I'm on it." Barnaby dashed forward to finally get to business. When he entered the building, he tried to communicate with his partner about what he just learned. He placed a finger on the side of his helmet and tried to call Kotetsu's suit.

"Old Man! I just learned that the Police Commissioner and the NEXT girl we met are still in here. Try to find the girl first and I'll look for Clarkson." He found a flight of stairs that weren't engulfed in flames and ran up them to the second floor.

"What?!" The middle-aged man relayed back to his partner. Very intelligent, Barnaby thought. "Well, shit. I'll start now."

On the pink rabbit's heels, he noticed a blue blur move to catch up with him. He recognized his fellow hero immediately. "Origami!" He called to get his attention, grabbing a hold of his armor before the young man could dash past him. Barnaby told him the exact same thing he told Wild Tiger, asking him to help as many people as he could but to look out for a teenage girl. Ivan told him he could do that and the two split off immediately in different directions.

The newest Hero was very successful in finding Mr. Clarkson. The older man was wandering the halls, guiding all the employees he could to fire exits and safe passages. When Barnaby approached him, his face and clothes were covered in ash and smoke and he had a bad cough, but demanded firmly where his NEXT employee was.

"I have other Heroes looking for her sir, but please, follow me out to safety. I bet she's outside right now." The aging man looked very displeased with the answer he was given but hardly had the strength to resist the Hero from taking him to safety. The Hero decided that getting this man outside as soon as possible was the best option, judging by his coughing. He found the closest window available to him and opened it up (because smashing the window when he didn't need to was silly). He repelled down the side of the building with the man on his back.

Ambulances had arrived just minutes ago and were tending to whoever crossed their paths and were in need of help. Barnaby pushed Clarkson forward into the care of the paramedics. The Police Commissioner looked about while a woman in uniform tried to clean him up and help him, but neither he nor the Hero saw who they were looking for. Eden's detective chauffer was running towards his boss while Barnaby scanned the building for more people to help.

"Commissioner! Have yo-"

"Detective Verre, where is Eden?" The younger man became very quiet. The blonde man decided to try contacting his partner again.

"I gave her over to Origami Cyclone." Kotetsu relayed. "He should be out any minute now. I'm just doing a final sweep for any stragglers." Just then, fire truck sirens started to turn onto the block and came rushing down the streets.

"Well, I'm not picking up any life signals from my position and the fire fighters are finally here. Get out before they hose you to death." When Barnaby turned to see how his rescue was doing, he was laying in a vicious reprimanding to his subordinate. And just at that moment, the ninja-themed Hero was emerging from the front door of the enflamed Police Department with a girl in his arms. The pink hero waved his colleague over and Ivan quickly headed towards him. The girl was making a strange wheezing and coughing sound.

When Clarkson finally noticed Eden, he managed to stop his tongue lashing and stood up, much to his caretaker's disapproval.

"This child needs to be tended to." He grabbed Eden's arm when Origami set her down on her feet and pulled her towards the paramedic, pushing her shoulders to make her sit. "Verre, stay here and keep an eye on her."

"Yes, sir."

"Thank you, Hero." Clarkson said, relief in his voice and evident in his face. "Mr…?"

"Origami Cyclone, sir." Ivan told the man, a little confused that someone didn't know his title with how much advertising and TV time was given to his profession. "Um, the girl didn't talk to me at all, I hope that—"

"She's mute, Mr. Cyclone. I assure you, there is nothing to worry about in her silence." The young man let out an 'oh' sound as a sign that he understood. Barnaby was sure that if he could see the man's face, he would be turning red from embarrassment. Finally, Wild Tiger appeared out of the smoke with a woman in his arms as well, just as the firemen were pulling out their hoses and getting ready to put out the fire. He set her down next to the ambulance that his partner was at and another paramedic came up to assist the injured woman. She thanked the Hero before she was lead away.

"I think everyone is safe." The man in the green suit happily proclaimed even though his breathing sounded labored. He was obviously pleased with a job well done.

"And it looks like the criminals were kept in order too." Barnaby pointed off away into the distance where a group of questionable suspects were staying corralled around a single red and white ambulance, their hands cuffed and secured to the truck so they could not run away. For good keeping, Fire Emblem and Rock Bison were standing guard. When they appeared on the scene, Kotetsu wasn't sure, but was happy that they helped.

"Well, Commissioner," The identity-known Hero opened, giving a polite nod to the smoke-covered gentleman, "Take care."

"Wait," He grabbed Barnaby by his arm before he could walk away. "May I talk to you three privately?"

* * *

A/N: Another short chapter, but a glimmer of a story appears. Thanks to those who review, fav, and watch the story. :) And thanks for everyone who reads! I hope everyone is enjoying it.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

To say that the Hundred Power Duo felt awkward was an understatement. They shifted in their seats uneasily and didn't talk, unsure of what to say. They were sitting in the corner of a café (a harder spot for Barnaby's fans to see him at and bother him) silently debating about what to do with their baggage.

* * *

"You understand the types of problems we've been having lately at the police station, yes?" The City Police Commissioner asked the three heroes as he led them away from the paramedics and his subordinates.

"You mean besides it just being bombed?" Wild Tiger asked. Barnaby could have punched his partner for his stupidity.

"You mean the suicides?" The blonde clarified, hoping that he would jog Kotetsu's memory of what they watched on the news the other day.

"Yes. The courts don't believe that these gang members have been killing themselves off." Clarkson lowered his voice so he wouldn't be heard by unwanted ears. "They're actually accusing the police department of killing the criminals before they're convicted and want to put a stop to the 'vigilante' work by the officers."

"Is it true?" Ivan asked before he could stop himself.

"Absolutely not."

"Then where are the suspicions coming from?" Barnaby asked, his interest genuinely piqued.

"Prosecutor's are putting forth many reasons, such as they way these men killing themselves as unusual, but they're biggest defense is that not all confirmed members of this gang are killing themselves when taken into custody. Only members who come through this specific department end up killing themselves."

"What gang is this?" Kotetsu asked.

"It's actually the Touro Mafia." Clarkson answered quietly.

"How are they killing themselves?"

"Biting off their tongues." Everyone's stomach seemed to roll over in their bellies uncomfortably.

"How could the courts even let this case go through?" Origami commented, thinking the whole thing over once he regained his composure. "At least if the criminals were hanged, then you could argue that the officers were involved."

"The prosecutors know that we have a NEXT working for the police. Their position is that Eden is forcing the men to commit suicide."

"But that's not how her powers work!" Tiger protested.

"I know and I've explained it all to the judges." The graying-haired man gave a harsh cough, caused by his being upset over the whole situation and the smoke in his lungs.

"But the prosecutor's reasoning is strong and you can't dismiss them." Barnaby guessed the troubles this man was having with his unorthodox employee.

"So now I'm going to ask a favor." Clarkson looked uneasy and shifted his weight between his feet. "Could you Heroes watch after her while I clean this mess up?"

* * *

And that was how Kotetsu and Barnaby were stuck babysitting a teenager. They awkwardly fidgeted in their seats under the not-so-friendly hazel gaze of a girl they knew almost nothing about. She did not seem happy about having guardians watching her.

* * *

"Hear me out." The Commissioner explained. Reluctantly, the Hero team listened. "She has no parents and Detective Verre usually follows her around for her safety." He went on to explain that she was a very unruly girl despite her mellow demeanor. Since she was a small child, she would scare off nannies and sitters.

Her father used to work on the police force. He was the previous City Police Commissioner before James Clarkson took it over about seven years ago, after the man died. When her powers developed shortly after her parents passed away, she would throw tantrums and run to the police station, demanding to watch interrogations and see the criminals come through. Since she needed to be watched anyway, Clarkson allowed it and had Detective Verre on part-time babysitting duties; he didn't scare easily and could keep an eye on her as he worked. The situation ended up working like a charm; Verre's main duty was interrogation and Eden's powers naturally helped him with his job. She calmed down as she grew older.

"But Verre is my head interrogator; I can't have him gone half the day just to make sure the girl stays away while this investigation on her takes place."

"Haven't you told her what's going on? Doesn't she understand she needs to stay away?"

"Yes, but it's that stubbornness of hers and her wild age. She's completely confident that they won't convict her and insists on putting criminals away. If I had known what type of trouble she would have turned into, I would have kept her as far away from the police department as I could.

"Which is why I need a couple of Heroes that can tame her just until the whole situation is dismissed. She's in school most of the day, five out of seven days a week. I'll send Verre off to escort her home every night. She will only be left to you for a few hours most days. Can you keep her out of my hair?"

* * *

Eden was sipping on a strawberry milkshake, looking content enough. Neither Kotetsu nor Barnaby ordered anything though. They chose the milkshake for her since her angry silence was most unhelpful to them (and they hoped it would be a distraction from her irate glaring). The high school had let out just thirty minutes ago, so the Duo had a long day ahead of them until dinnertime when her usual chaperone would take her back. She was still dressed in her school uniform: a white short sleeved button down shirt with a reddish brown skirt and short tie to match.

She pulled away from her milkshake long enough to sign thank you to the men and went right back to drinking her milkshake.

"Oh! I know what that sign means!"

"It means 'thank you', Old Man." Kotetsu gave a long sideways glare at his blonde partner. He didn't need Barnaby telling him what it meant. Eden gave a small smile, clearly entertained by the two.

Just then, another high school girl walked up to the table that the trio was sitting at, her hands on her hips and holding her black school briefcase. It took half a second before the men recognized who the girl was; her natural brown hair and eyes were very different from the blue they usually see her in.

"What do you two think you're doing?"

"How did you find us?"

"You're in a café where one wall is a window to the outside." Karina pointed to the long wall of glass for emphasis. "And you chose a spot that's close to my school." She finally looked over at Eden now, her face much more friendly than it was towards the pair. She looked her up and down and noticed that she was wearing the same clothes as her.

"Oh, we go to the same school." Then it hit her. "You're the quiet girl…" Karina had a class or two with her and knew there was a reason as to why she never spoke, but she had forgotten. She never had to do oral reports or presentations. The short hair girl extended her hand out to her all the same. Karina happily shook it.

"She can't talk." Kotetsu said.

"That's right. You're mute." The words left her lips with a hint of sadness in them, a bit embarrassed that she brought it up. But the girl just took her hand back, pulled out a pen and notebook from her own school bag and wrote something down. She presented it to Karina to read.

'No need to be sorry.'

"Well, okay then." The female hero smiled, which in turn made Eden smile. "But what're you doing hanging out with this odd couple?"

"Stern Build's City Police Commissioner asked us to keep her out of trouble, Miss Nosey!" Kotetsu blurted out, a little peeved at the name calling.

"Her name is Eden and she's a NEXT." Barnaby managed to say more calmly. "Mr. Clarkson doesn't want her around the police station and asked us to keep her out."

"That still doesn't—" Another written message was presented to Karina from her schoolmate. She had written it while the three were talking.

'It's a long story. I'm not allowed to work.'

"What is she writing to you?" Kotetsu extended his hand to take the notebook, but Eden pulled it just out of reach. The elder man sneered at her childishness.

"Huh. You have to tell me the details later. So, you two are babysitting?" Karina's eyes flashed with amusement, ready to laugh.

"It's nothing extensive." The younger man explained. "Just a few hours until her proper caretaker can watch her again."

"So, what are you going to do for now?" The men looked at her for a moment, completely silent, and then shrugged their shoulders. "Well, what if you two get called for Hero business? You can't watch her while you're trying to save people."

"Kotetsu will stay behind."

"Woah, woah, woah!" Wild Tiger would not allow this. "No way, Bunny! I'm an excellent Hero, and I will not be forced to sit back while innocent people are in danger."

"Your less-than-impressive Hero rankings tell a different story." Though Barnaby did not say it with malice in his voice, his matter-of-fact tone don't did not take the sting out of the insult. Of course, the pair argued for some time afterward now, Karina shaking her head with a disappointing look on her face and trying to calm the two down. Eden took the opportunity to quietly stand up and throw away her milkshake, but instead of heading back to the table, she headed for the front door.

The girl was looking over her shoulder back into the café, making sure the Heroes had not yet caught on to her slip away (and they hadn't) when she bumped into a man in front of her. They both stumbled back a few steps. Eden turned to see who she had run into.

"I'm sorry!" The young blonde man said. The girl couldn't believe her luck. "Oh! Hi, Eden!" Ivan Karelin gave a warm smile. When he moved to stand closer to her, he was almost a whole head taller than her. He was dressed in his casual civilian clothes but the mute had no trouble figuring out who he was.

"What're you doing? Where are Kotetsu and Barnaby?" The young man did a quick look around before he noticed what Eden was trying to do. She tilted her head towards the ground, looking up every so often to try and look cute. It wasn't working on him. Ivan knitted his brow in disappointment and offered his hand to her.

"Trying to give them the slip, huh? You know you can't be around the police station for a few days." The girl stood quiet, looking at the man's left hand and then back to his face. If he couldn't find the superhero duo, then he would take responsibility for her himself (not that he needed to; Eden knew he would find the other heroes just a few yards away).

But after a few more moments of unresponsiveness from the girl's end, Origami moved his right hand to lie over his chest and rubbed it in a circular motion, a pleading expression on his face. 'Please?'

Eden's eyes widened a little bit and she tilted her head to one side. She had never met anyone who wasn't deaf who could sign; it just wasn't common knowledge. As she pondered how much Ivan knew or for how long he could sign, two adult men and a teenage girl walked out of the café to meet the attempted runaway.

"See? I told you she didn't get far." Barnaby commented to his partner as they exited the café.

"My goodness! That was still too close!" Kotetsu sprang forward and placed his heavy hands on Eden's small shoulders, jolting her out of her thoughts and making her stumble from surprise. The only father hero spun her around to face him as he bent over to look her in the eye.

"What do you think you're doing? You can't go back to the police station; you know that." Of course, he received no reply. Eden just adverted her gaze, looking annoyed (it reminded Kotetsu of Barnaby, for some reason), only daring to look him in the eye every once in a while. A few moments of awkward silence passed among the group before an epiphany hit Karina.

"I would try to run too if I had you guys as my babysitter." Her comment earned her some not-so-friendly stares. "I mean, she must be completely bored with you two. If she's a workaholic like you guys are implying, then she needs to be entertained; having some fun."

All eyes turned to Eden for a moment. She eyed everyone back, a little confused, but she slowly nodded her brown head anyway.

"See? She just needs her mind taken off of work. So let's all do something fun!" Kotetsu and Barnaby gave questioning glances to each other. Having too much fun may give her room to slip away, but what if all that she needed was something to distract herself with? The duo certainly didn't have anything better planned; sitting and staring at her wasn't desirable for anyone either.

"It's settled then." The Ice Queen declared. "Ivan, did you want to join us too?" She was going to escort the odd trio and help manage their activities, but she knew that the shape shifter was under no obligation to take care of the rogue girl. The blonde man became a little flustered.

"Oh, I don't think so. I don't wa—" Ivan's jaw dropped just a bit when Eden spun herself around to face him and looked him right in the eye, hazel meeting indigo. She laid her right hand against her chest and made the same circular motion that he gave her just a few minutes ago.

'Please?'

Barnaby carefully observed the silent exchange the two were making, confused and intrigued by what they were saying to each other without having to say anything. Kotetsu and Karina saw it for a moment too, but were brought out of their thoughts when Ivan finally answered.

"I think I could tag along for a bit, if it's no trouble."

"Not at all, Ivan!" Kotetsu happily exclaimed. "The five of us will have a great time!

"So… what are we doing?" All eyes fell on Karina. She rolled her eyes, scoffed at the dubious men around her and finally explained the first event for their job of entertaining Eden.

* * *

A/N: Yay! More Tiger and Bunny characters! Sometimes, the characters end up leading the story and forget my script completely. That happen to some of you?

But anyway, I hope everyone is enjoying themselves. Thanks for the favs, comments, and follows. :)


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

It was the beginning of their fifth shift to watch over Eden, the first weekend that they had to spend almost an entire day with her. Kotetsu was very anxious, despite their previous successes to keep the girl out of trouble. And it seemed that Blue Rose was right; all that the young lady needed was a hobby to take her mind off of things. Hell, she was almost enjoyable to be around even!

For the past few days, everyone became a little more enlightened. Karina was told about Eden's specific situation, along with all the other heroes for that matter (word travels fast when fellow heroes are tied up from crime fighting because of a peculiar mess). When trouble called for the heroes to be away, if possible, Eden was dropped under the watchful eye of another member who worked at Apollon Media, usually the nice, if strict, aging black lady who works in the same office as Kotetsu and Barnaby. Thankfully, such instances only numbered in at two while the pair had to take care of the NEXT.

Barnaby quietly observed his partner nervously tapping his foot on the sidewalk as they waited outside of Apollon Media Headquarters for Eden to be dropped off to them. Detective Verre was nice enough to drive her to them while on his way to work instead of them fetching her. The younger man watched Kotetsu just a bit longer before deciding to say something.

"What are you so nervous about, Old Man?" His tone wasn't very understanding.

"How can you not be nervous?" The brunette couldn't stop himself from mindlessly biting at his thumb. "We've only spent a handful of hours with Eden before. A whole day now? I don't think we can do this."

"It's not a full 24 hours. Just from early noon to early evening." Wild Tiger did not seem comforted and kept up his nervous habits. Barnaby sighed. "Listen; Blue Rose and Fire Emblem gave us some good ideas to keep the girl entertained. I don't think we have anything to worry about."

"Ugh…" Kotetsu couldn't help himself. "I wish someone had the day free, just in case we needed their help." He started to chew on his thumb harder.

"Hey." The blonde abruptly placed his hands on the older man's shoulders, turning him around and shook him a bit for good measure. When his amber eyes finally focused of Barnaby's green one's, the latter spoke. "We've done this before. She's just a girl! Nothing to fret about." But Kotetsu just averted his gaze as if he wasn't listening.

"Hey!" Barbany shook his partner again, harder, and then yanked Kotetsu's thumb away from his mouth, firmly holding the man's rough hand in his own. "That's a terrible habit. Now listen!" He leaned in closer so that Tiger couldn't look away, squeezing his hand.

"At the very least, be comforted in the fact that we're doing this together. I'm your partner and we can do this. Together, we fight crime, capture criminals and rescue the innocent. We can handle a teenager. Okay?"

At the very least, Kotetsu seemed to be focused and listening now. He was quiet, but obviously listening. A moment passed where he just looked into the younger man's eyes before looking down at Barnaby holding his hand. Barnaby looked at it too, before becoming flustered for some reason. Both men could feel their faces turning hot, and they backed away from each other at the same moment, releasing their hands. Too close, perhaps?

"What I'm trying to say," Barnaby began after a few moments of awkward pause. "Is that comparatively, you have nothing to be nervous about." Another pause. "So suck it up."

"You're right, Bunny." Kotetsu admitted. He looked over at the hand he had been biting at, the same hand Bunny had held onto, before turning his head towards companion, smiling. "I just needed a good talking to. Thanks."

For better or worse, only another minute passed before a familiar black car pulled up to the curb and stopped a few feet away from the pair. A young man in a suit got out of the driver's side of the vehicle and Eden stepped out from the back seat. The man came up and shook hands with both of the heroes.

"Mr. Clarkson and I give you our sincerest thanks."

"You say that every time we see you, Detective." The older man tried to get Verre to lighten up, patting him on the back and giving him a wide grin. "It's fine, really!" He ignored Barnaby's scoff.

"Yes, but, today you will be watching her for almost the entire day." The younger of the duo watched Kotetsu's face falter a bit, seeing all his fears coming back in an instant.

"It's nothing, really." Barnaby stepped in. "I think we've even began to like each other."

"That sure does make things easy." Mr. Verre gave a warm but brief laugh, saying thank you again to the men, made sure that Eden had all her belongings with her, and said his farewells. Within a minute, he was back in his car and speeding off to work.

For a group that had spent the past four evenings together, they stared uncomfortably at each other. It was Eden who made the first move, hunting out her notebook from her bag and quickly scribbling something down on it. Even though Kotetsu and Barnaby had gotten pretty good at reading some of her sign language, they were far from understanding the language as a whole.

'What's the plan for today?' Was scrawled across the unlined, beige paper.

"Well," Began Bunny, "We can go see a movie after lunch if you'd like. Karina said that you might like to go shopping afterwards too, since the malls have sales on the weekend." Eden took back her notebook and began to write something else down, showing it to her chaperones.

'That's okay for now. But I hope you two didn't make any plans for dinner.'

* * *

To reach their destination, she wrote down the address that they needed to go to. She didn't give them the name of a restaurant or other markers to help them know where they would be going; just an address to put into the GPS that neither of them recognized. Up until now, they had managed to walk or take a taxi wherever they needed to go; the men's motorcycle and sidecar were just too small to fit three people. After asking three different taxi drivers if they knew how to get to the address, they all declined the offer when they found out the surrounding neighborhood.

"What's wrong with these guys?" Kotetsu growled out, angry to be turned down a third time. "Do you live in the bad side of town? If it wasn't Ben's day off…"

"Calm down, Old Man." Barnaby interrupted his ramblings. "We'll just take the bikes." And then they headed back towards the Apollon Media parking lot.

As they were heading to Barnaby's motorbike to make the drive, Eden made another comment. Kotetsu had noticed that she was lagging behind and that she was frantically scribbling something down. He backtracked to meet with her.

"Come along, Eden." He tried to encourage her with a smile, motioning towards the pink bike. "The sun's starting to get low and I'm getting hungry." She flipped her book around for him to read it.

"'It's small.' Yeah, but we'll fit." The father tried to reaffirm her. He led her over to the bikes and showed her. She seemed unconvinced and wrote something else down.

'How?'

"Yeah; the sidecar isn't built to hold but one person." For it to transform into a proper motorcycle, it had to keep a slick body in both forms to keep it speedy, so even as an attachment to Barnaby's bike, it could only hold one person safely. Then Kotetsu got really excited.

"You can ride behind one of us!" He exclaimed. "I can actually ride my bike for once, and you can choose who you want to sit with!" The older man was so excited that he would be riding the streets all cool looking for once, he didn't notice what Eden wrote in reply. "You probably want to ride behind Bunny, most girls want to, I'd imagine…"

"'I'm not doing that.'" Barnaby read Eden's note out loud, her book in his hands. Tiger's happy mood popped.

"What? Why not?"

"'I'm sort of scared of motorcycles.'"

"What type of teenager is scared of motorcycles?" Eden had to take her book back from Barnaby to reply to Kotetsu. It took her a minute because she had a lengthy reply.

'I've never been on one before, and last semester a girl in school fell off of one and had to stay in the hospital for a week. I have a logical apprehension towards motorbikes.'

"Fine, fine, whatever, Eden." The older man relented, obviously unhappy that he wasn't going to zoom down the streets looking cool on a bike. "You would be safe with us, but whatever."

"It's good to see some caution in someone her age. Think of where she works, after all."

"Yeah, yeah." But Wild Tiger wasn't thinking about her anymore. The girl made her way around the vehicle, looking over the sidecar before figuring out how to get into it. She sat down with a smile on her face, waiting for the other two to join her.

Barnaby made it over to the bike as well, throwing his leg over it like he had a million times and settling his hands on the handles. "Come along, Old Man." Kotetsu gave a huff of annoyance but made his way over. He stopped and gave an unsatisfied glare at Barnaby before continuing. The blonde returned the favor. "Get on."

Kotetsu heaved a heavy sigh and unenthusiastically swung his leg over the bike behind Barnaby. How embarrassing, he thought. A man his age riding behind someone like Barnaby Brooks Jr.; there must be something like a ten year age difference between the two of them. And damn this pink bike! It's too damn small! Wild Tiger was uncomfortably close to his partner. He was adjusting in his seat when Eden held up her book for the two to read it.

'Now be sure to hang onto Barnaby nice and tight. We don't want you to fall off.'

"I'm getting to it!" The elder man could hardly believe how flustered he was becoming over a bike ride. He could even feel his face heat up over it. But he managed to wrap his arms around Barnaby's waist and lightly lock his fingers in front of the young man, though he tried his best to touch as little of the blonde as possible while doing it.

"If you hold on like that," Bunny critiqued, "you'll fall off while we're trying to exit the parking garage." He let go of his bike to fix Kotetsu's hold, firmly grasping the man's tanned hands and squeezing them together, then finally pushing them against his red jacket right above his belt. Kotetsu imagined this was right where Barnaby's navel was and began to feel very embarrassed when he realized he was thinking about how smooth and firm the younger man's stomach was.

When he looked over at Eden to try and get his mind off of such things, she was glancing between the two, back and forth with a wide eye and curious expression on her face. She had noted in the past that Kotetsu honestly expressed his feelings while Barnaby tried to keep them to himself; she recognized that when the heroes first started watching her. She found it funny that even though the two were different personality wise, they had the same expression on their faces.

Barnaby finally entered the address of wherever dinner happened to be taking place into his motorcycle's GPS, revved up the bike, and drove out into the city following the bike's directions. When the trio was finally able to merge onto the highway and pick up some real speed, Kotetsu had to hold onto his hat and found his face assaulted by the younger man's long hair. He must have been making a funny face because when he looked over to check on Eden, she was smiling and wiping away tears from her eyes as if she was laughing. With a huff, he yanked his hat off his head and pushed it into the girl's hands for safe keeping and to distract her from his predicament. He would have laughed at how Eden looked as well (her short but fluffy hair poofed in the wind, making her look like some sort of fuzzy puppy), but Barnaby's hair kept getting in his mouth.

"Hey! Bunny! Can you hear me?"

"Yeah?" The younger man called out over the loud rush of wind in their ears.

"You need to cut your hair! It's too long and hits my face!" Kotetsu tried to spit out a mouthful of blonde locks.

"Quit whining, Old Man! It's not like we ride like this all the time."

"It's longer than Eden's! You're starting to look like a girl!"

"Shut up and lay your head against me if it bothers you that much!"

The girl must have been able to hear their conversation because Kotetsu noticed that Eden was doubled over now in the side car, holding her belly and still smiling. He stuck his tongue out at her, but she didn't notice. So the older man was forced to frown and just follow the good advice of his partner. Reluctantly, he laid his head against Barnaby's left shoulder. Like this, he could actually push some of the hair over and behind his head and effectively keep it from whipping it into his face. If Kotetsu thought that his situation was embarrassing before, he was wrong; this was the most embarrassing part of the whole drive.

And then he heard a click. He had been too busy feeling sorry for himself and didn't even notice that Eden had taken a picture of him on her cell phone. She gave a triumphant grin and Kotetsu could have died of a heart attack right then and there. On instinct, he reached out and tried to snatch the phone from her, but she pulled away.

"Why you little—" He leaned over further at the same moment Barnaby made to turn off the highway and he nearly fell off the bike and into the sidecar. The motorcycle jostled a little from being unbalanced and forced Kotetsu to reassume his position as a baby monkey on Barnaby's back.

"Quit playing around, Old Man!" The hero scolded. Wild Tiger felt his dignity slowly drain out of him. He gave a glare at Eden, who didn't seem to mind in her entertaining ride.

"This isn't over." He said, more to himself than to the girl.

* * *

A/N: Time skip! Writing out (and reading) all those specific days that Tiger and Bunny would be watching Eden would be tedious.

To the stalker readers: Hi! I hope you're enjoying yourselves. :) But if there is something you don't like, I can't make things better if you don't review, or fav, or follow or something.

Fun Fact!: I chose this title for my story because _Tiger & Bunny_ titles their episodes after idioms. Other possible titles I thought about include, "The Pen is Mightier than the Sword", "Truth is Stranger than Fiction", and "Bite Off More than You Can Chew".

Thanks for reading and I hope everyone is enjoying themselves!


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

"Bunny! Grab her!" Kotetsu yelled, perhaps a bit too enthusiastically, when the blonde finally pulled up to the side of the road. Eden quickly jumped out of the side car and ran onto the sidewalk. She made a strange sound, between a giggle and a pant, as she playfully taunted the older man. She threw the black and white cap back to its owner to distract him, but the man caught it easily.

"Why?" Wild Tiger had scrambled off the bike very ungracefully and reached out at the girl.

"She took a picture of me while I was on the bike!"

"So? It's probably no more embarrassing than how you usually look."

"Ow." Kotetsu stopped his hunt for the girl. "That hurts, Lil' Bunny." Barnaby ignored his partner and dismounted his bike. He observed their surroundings and had a pretty good guess what was going to happen next. But just for kicks and giggles, he asked his partner his opinion.

"Hey, Kotetsu. What do you think of the restaurant?"

"Oh." The older man quickly forgot about the photo and finally took in where he was. Not on a strip of street known for their gourmet dining halls, nor a large mall that had a popular restaurant attached to it. Instead, they were on a quiet neighborhood road lined with terraced houses, parked in front of one particularly large home along the line of dwellings.

"Eden, you gave us a bad address."

Eden shook her head at Kotetsu and gave the sign for 'no' in sign language with her left hand. She then hunted out her notebook from her bag.

"This is your home, isn't it?" Barnaby ventured, and was given an enthusiastic nod in reply as she wrote down her message.

'I'm cooking dinner for you guys.'

"Oh, Eden, that's really sweet but—" Kotetsu was cut off when the teenager gave him an unhappy look, placing her hands on her hips. She stared at him for a while and when he remained quiet, she put on a smile and made for the front door. She dug out a key from her front pocket and began to unlock the door, looking over her shoulder back at the boys and waving them over. The partnered pair looked at each other, exchanging unsure looks. Eden stamped her foot on the ground to get their attention and waved them over again, before Barnaby made the first move. They followed the girl and entered the house.

The home was pleasant; nothing too drab or stuffy or empty or depressing. It was nice and felt lived in. The front entrance opened to a small foyer where a closet for hats and coats were commonly used in the winter, and a small corner was dedicated to the storage of shoes. Kotetsu instinctively began to take off his shoes when he saw Eden do it, but Barnaby was a little slow on the draw. Just past the foyer were the living room and a flight of stairs, with the dining room just beyond that and the kitchen parallel to the dining room.

"Nice house, Eden." Kotetsu complimented with a smile. The girl waved her arm out towards the couch as a gesture for the men to make themselves comfortable, but they didn't sit just yet. The house was quiet and prompted Barnaby to question.

"Do you have a caretaker, Eden?" She nodded from around the corner before disappearing into the kitchen. Barnaby wanted to ask another question, but his partner grabbed his arm as a nonverbal warning to stay quiet instead. The blonde was going to protest, but the older man's amber eyes pleaded for him to relent. Eden came back with something written in her notebook for them to read.

'Do you both like flank steak?' Kotetsu gave an enthusiastic affirmative (fried rice was becoming a little monotonous) and Barnaby gave his consent as well. Between the dining room and the kitchen, there was a large, open space to serve as a bar between the two rooms, so even while Eden cooked, the duo could still watch her from the dining room. They opted to sit at the bar while the teenager cooked. Kotetsu leaned over to whisper into Barnaby's ear.

"Why are you asking her such questions?"

"Didn't you think it was a little odd that the house was empty?"

"A little, but she's almost an adult. She can be home alone. Besides, what if talking about her guardian makes her sore?" Barnaby gave a flat stare at his partner.

"It's not like she was orphaned last week."

"What would you kn—" And then Kotetsu realized how stupid his next statement would sound. The orphan would know best how the other orphan would take talking about their parents and such. A loud thunk of a large pot on the stove-top startled the heroes from their exchange. Eden was staring at them, her head tilted to one side as if to ask 'what's going on?' Kotetsu and Barnaby parted, the former offering a goofy grin and the latter turning to adjust his glasses.

* * *

The rest of the evening went by smoothly, despite their host being unable to talk. The men didn't feel comfortable sitting around quietly and watching television, so Eden fished out some playing cards for them when she had some free time. Kotetsu suggested a few games but Barnaby refused to play with just two players. So Kotetsu invited Eden to play when she could.

"Do you know how to play poker?"

Shake of the head.

"Blackjack is an easy game. Do you know it?"

Shake of the head.

"Well, it's easy to teach." So Barnaby laid out the basic rules and objective of the game, which the girl seemed to understand. When Kotetsu asked what they could bet with, the best Eden could find was some loose change (and not a lot of it) and some little cookies. Kotetsu voted for the cookies.

"You'll ruin your appetite."

"We can eat them after dinner! We are playing for dessert." Wild Tiger gave a huge grin. So they placed bets with cookies.

Eden was a little slow to make her decisions at first, but warmed up to the flow of the game. She had a few wins in the beginning, but it didn't take long for the expert of the game to show himself.

"You're no fun to play with, Bunny."

"If you knew how to restrain yourself when you're doing well, then you would be winning more often." Eden giggled to herself as she stirred some ingredients in a pot.

When dinner preparations were finally coming to a close, Eden pulled out the plates and silverware and glasses and began to set the table. The men wanted to help her, but she swatted their hands away when they got too close. Barnaby was the first to realize something odd.

"Are you expecting another person for dinner?" Four plates, four glasses, four place settings. Eden nodded her head and as if on cue, the front door to the house jiggled and opened up. The duo couldn't help but stiffen up, the fourth member of their dinner party was just announced a second ago. They weren't sure who to expect and were not given the chance to even ask.

"Good evening, Eden." A man's voice. An older man's voice. He walked into the living room. "Good evening, Mr. Brooks and Mr. Kaburagi." It was the City Police Chief Commissioner. The duo stood up.

"Good evening, Mr. Clarkson." Kotetsu shook the man's hand when he grabbed for it, a little stunned by the newcomer. But the graying man gave a smile.

"What brings you here, sir?" Barnaby managed to ask when the investigator came over to shake his hand as well.

"Eden told me about the dinner. I thought it was a good idea to show our gratitude." When the two men remained quiet, Clarkson raised an eyebrow but figured out the source of their confusion. "She didn't tell you two that you've been relieved of watch."

"A farewell dinner?"

"A celebration of a job well done on your parts." Kotetsu and Barnaby looked at each other. Two surprises within four minutes. "You heroes really didn't need to help me out with her. Thank you very much."

"It was really nothing, sir." Wild Tiger replied, his face sincere and smiling. "A bit of a handful, but Eden was no trouble."

"Well, I'm happy that she wasn't a burden on you men then." The Commissioner smiled and gestured towards the dining table, now completely set with food and drinks and ready to be dined at. The teenager took her place behind a chair, waiting for everyone else to take their seats. Quietly, they all picked a place around the table and began their meal.

Commissioner Clarkson was very pleasant dinner company and warmed up the partnered pair quickly after their surprise. Even though he had a serious face, he was amiable and easy to talk to. He asked how Kotetsu and Barnaby managed to keep the girl under control and if watching her had created problems with their hero duties. They explained to him the system they had worked out. Barnaby even asked if their sudden relief from duty meant that Eden could go back to work.

"Yes, it does. She can start as early as tomorrow if she wanted."

"That's great!" Kotetsu exclaimed. "Does that mean she has been cleared of those charges?"

Clarkson's face fell. "Unfortunately, no." The older hero's instinct was to ask for the details, what was happening to keep Eden under suspicion, but he couldn't bring himself to ask because of the look on the man's face. He turned to face his partner, who was busy staring at a photo on a side table. Curious, Kotetsu looked over at it too. It was a photo of a family: mother, father, and a little girl, about age five.

"Do you like the picture?"

"Oh! I didn't mean to stare." Eden looked up from her dinner plate.

"I imagine that Eden didn't tell you about the photos either."

"That's Eden's family though, isn't it?"

"Yes it is, Mr. Brooks."

"Do you mind if we ask what happened, Mr. Clarkson?" Kotetsu shot a look to his partner, but it didn't deter the man. The Commissioner looked over at Eden, but the only indication she gave him was a sideways glance and continued her meal.

"No, Mr. Brooks. You two do deserve some honest answers to your questions. It may answer some other questions you have as well."

"Does Eden mind?"

"No, she doesn't mind.

"But back to your question." The investigator leaned over to pick up the photo and he handed it over to Barnaby. "Eden's parents were unfortunately murdered." The girl stood up with her plate in hand and made her way to the kitchen. "It was seven years ago."

"I'm so sorry." Kotetsu couldn't help himself as he looked over to Eden, but she just shook her head at him and began to clean the kitchen.

"She appreciates your condolences, Mr. Kaburagi."

"What happened to them?"

"A break-in at their home. They were sleeping." Clarkson got a faraway look in his eyes as he folded his hands and twirled his thumbs on the table. Eden came by and picked up his plate to clean it and left quickly. Barnaby didn't plan on asking more questions and was content to leave it at that, but the investigator kept going, lost in his own thoughts.

"It was some gang, but that's not surprising. As Chief of Police, lots of enemies are made and syndicate activities compromised." He heaved a heavy sigh. "Despite our investigations, we couldn't convict anyone either. Carefully executed." Clarkson pinched the bridge of his nose before pushing a hand through his graying hair. He tried to smile.

"But I got carried away. I apologize."

"No. I'm sorry for bringing it up, Mr. Clarkson." Eden came by and finished cleaning the dinner table. She elbowed Barnaby when she walked by him and when he looked up at her, she just made the sign for 'fine' with her free hand.

"Enough of that sad stuff, men." And the Commissioner aptly changed the subject, but the mood had a harder time of leaving. Even Kotetsu couldn't help himself from looking over at the girl in the kitchen. She did not acknowledge if she noticed the man's stares or not, but she did bring out a plate of cookies as dessert, just as the three of them had agreed upon. This brightened Kotetsu's mood tremendously and Barnaby enjoyed the sweets as well. Eventually, all the men moved from the dining table to the living room, and from the living room to the front door. Clarkson was giving an amiable farewell to the heroes, and thanked them profusely. When Kotetsu and Barnaby finally left the house, the sun had just set beyond the unseen horizon and the sky was dark. Streetlights were giving off a faint glow. The duo had a strange feeling of a job left unfinished.

"That sure was sudden, huh, Bunny?" The tone in his voice was quiet and somber.

"Yeah. It's unsettling." They made their way over to the pink motorcycle and green sidecar. "The Commissioner said that Eden wasn't off the hook just yet."

"That's right; he did." Kotetsu kicked a pebble out of his path. "I hope that matter clears up quickly."

"Eden was a bit uncommunicative when Mr. Clarkson appeared too." Barnaby gracefully mounted his bike as he voiced his thought out loud. His partner walked around but didn't enter the sidecar just yet. Instead, he stared at it as if a memory was clawing at the front of his head.

"I noticed that too. I hope—AAAAHHHH!"

"What! what!" The blonde gave a little jump at the man's yell, looking around to see what could have caused such a reaction.

"That little devil still has that embarrassing photo of me during the ride here!"

"Geez, Old Man. I thought it was something serious." Barnaby gave his colleague a disappointed glare and started up his vehicle.

"It is serious!"

"Sit down or I'm leaving without you."

* * *

"Happy to be returning to work, Eden?" James Clarkson asked the young lady as she entered the living room. She nodded her head, but was busy doing something on her phone. "What do you have there?" He asked.

With a devilish grin, she turned the cell phone around and showed him a picture. It was none other than Wild Tiger resting his head against Barnaby Brooks Jr. during a motorcycle ride, both heroes' faces in plain sight. The old man gave a chuckle. Eden then held up a finger, indicating more, and swiped for a new picture to appear. This time, the hero team was leaning in close to one another, just inches away, and looked to be in deep conversation, sitting at the same bar that was in her home. Clarkson gave another laugh.

"Those two sure are friendlier than they let on." He mused to himself. Eden gave an enthusiastic nod of her head.

* * *

A/N: Ta-da! I hope everyone has been enjoying the story. :) There is more to come, of course. Anyone have any clue as to what could happen next? Thank you for reading!


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

Kotetsu thought that if he hadn't spent so much time watching over the mute NEXT, then he surely would have forgotten about her. After he and Barnaby were let loose from babysitting duties, all communications stopped. Commissioner Clarkson sent monetary gifts after the farewell dinner, to further show his gratitude, but otherwise left the Hero Team alone. Once even, Kotetsu caught wind that the Chief of Police paid for the damage fines that the Crusher for Justice manage to rack up after one mission.

"Despite how inconvenient the babysitting was, it really paid off for you, huh?" Barnaby teased as he read over the letter with his partner. It was just a courtesy note telling the veteran hero and Apollo Company not to worry about the payment to the city. Kotetsu frowned, but silently agreed with Bunny. That was a very nice save on Clarkson's part.

Weeks passed. Crimes were committed and the heroes were there to set the world right again. Barnaby was finally getting closer (and going a little mad) over his chase with Ouroboros. The discovery of Jake Martinez, he's abrupt release, and the resulting fiasco was finally put to rest as well. Barnaby's head was a constant whirlwind of thoughts and emotions; it all happened so fast, but he was finally slowing down and thinking clearly again. His usual calm and collected personality was returning, much to Tiger's comfort. Seeing Bunny express some emotions was a nice change from when they first met, but Kotetsu was happy that his partner was finally finding peace.

* * *

"Hey, Karina," Kotetsu asked a depressed looking Blue Rose while at the Heroes training room. At first the older man thought that prodding her would be a bad idea (since previous experiences taught him so), but her mood didn't change as the time rolled by. She sighed and had this far away look in her eyes, obviously not focused on her training and she took a seat on the benches. That's when Kotetsu approached her. "You doing okay?"

"Yeah," Her reply was unconvincing, but truthful. The problem did not deal with her. "I've just been thinking too much, I guess."

"About what?" Kotetsu was a bit too nosy when it came to other people's business, but he saw Karina as a close friend, just like any other of the heroes he fought alongside with. He wanted to help them in any way he could.

"Well, you remember Eden, right?" The girl was slightly comforted in Kotetsu's concern.

"Yeah."

"She hasn't been to school for a while now. She stopped coming right before you guys took care of Jake. That makes it about two and a half weeks."

"Oh, did you start hanging out with her?"

"Only some of the time; not a lot."

"What's got you so worried then?" It was around this time Barnaby came over to listen in on the conversation. It had been forever since either of them heard about Eden.

"When I asked around, no one else knew where she had gone, not even the teachers. So when I did some digging yesterday, I found out that she's been missing this whole time."

"Missing?"

"You know, missing! As in a police report's been filed and Eden is on the official Missing Children's List now. Her page says that she's a runaway and was last seen the day before Jake was let out." Karina stared at her tennis shoes, confused and forlorn. "I'm worried because when I last asked her about how her case was doing, she said it wasn't looking so good."

"That's terrible." Kotetsu said somberly. He began to wonder if bad luck followed Eden around like it did with him and breaking things (or with his daughter, for that matter). Up until now, he had assumed that nothing was wrong. The news stopped broadcasting about those criminals who were killing themselves and no scandals involving the police were reported, so there was no reason to worry about such things.

"Try not to let this overtake you, Karina." Barnaby spoke up, trying to be helpful. The teenager looked up and cast her eyes towards the blonde; she hadn't noticed him till now. "You said that officially she's marked as a runaway, right?" Karina nodded.

"Eden's a tough girl. I'm sure she's just escaping from the world." Wild Tiger laid his hand on the girl's shoulder, affectionately rubbing it in a fatherly manner and smiling.

"And who knows," The younger man tried to comfort, "She may have just ran from her guardian but is being looked after by the police department. The authorities have to submit all claims of missing persons given to them, but it doesn't mean that no one knows where she is. She does work for them, after all."

One side of Karina's mouth tugged upwards into a smile. She was unconvinced, but she was slowly feeling better. "Thanks, guys. You two brought up some good points." She stood up. "I'll try not to let it get me down."

"Good girl." Kotetsu flashed a goofy grin and a thumbs-up at the girl, which brought a genuine smile to her face this time. She would let the remark slide this time, since he was just trying to cheer her up and she appreciated the effort.

"I'll just call it a day though. See you two around." And then she took her leave, grabbing her towel and water bottle and exiting the training room. The duo watched her leave but couldn't find the motivation to get back to training.

"Do you actually believe any of that?" Barnaby asked, turning his eyes to look at the back of Kotetsu's head. The older man didn't turn around, but kept his gaze fixed on the door that Blue Rose had left through.

"I have to." He finally replied. "Otherwise, Eden's in trouble, isn't she?"

The thought had crossed Kotetsu's mind to start actively searching for Eden, but he ultimately knew that the effort was futile, and Barnaby reassured him of that as well. The older man supposed that he felt so anxious over the girl's disappearance because he was a father and the thought of Kaede disappearing on him frightened him too much to even think about. Calling and asking Commissioner Clarkson also crossed his mind, but if he had found her, then Eden's case would have been taken off the List. But the point that those kids were on the Missing Children's List was that they couldn't be found! It's not like others didn't try to look for them, but they had exhausted all of their other resources and this was their final available move. It was really depressing to think about, so Kotetsu actively tried to busy himself with something else whenever his mind wondered over to it.

But that was how time passed. The days came and went with no word about the missing girl. Criminals still created trouble and the Heroes were there to save the day.

* * *

A/N: The shortest chapter to date. Also one of the more clumsy ones to read, but you can't win them all, I suppose. Next chapter will be much more interesting; promise.

Thank you for reading!


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

Barnaby thought that drinking with Kotetsu would be a good stress reliever after work; he didn't think that the aging man would be a complete lush. So he sat there at the bar, resting his chin him his hand and obviously shooting displeased looks at his partner, whom was laying his head on the bar.

"My head doesn't spin so much when I'm lying down like this."

"You can't control yourself, can you." Tiger thought that he saw a blonde brow twitch in irritation.

"Hey! I'm not nearly as drunk as I am when I'm upset." He jutted his lower lip in a pout, hurt by his companion's words. "Antonio has had to deal with a much drunker me plenty before."

"Well, your speech is still coherent." Barnaby mused to himself, tapping a finger on the bar top occasionally. "But why are you upset?"

"I'm not!" Cue typical silly smile. "I'm drinking because I'm happy."

"About?"

"I finally got my partner to go out drinking with me." Kotetsu reached out and grabbed Barnaby's free hand. He squeezed it affectionately before setting it back down and gave a gentle pat before letting go. "I wanted to do this ages ago, to help us bond, but you were a stubborn prick back when you didn't like me."

It became quiet between the two men. Kotetsu worried that he had said something a bit too mean, but the man next to him didn't seem to be offended. Instead, Barnaby thought it over, remembering how the chemistry between them was when they were first paired together. Looking back, Kotetsu was really trying his hardest to get along with him, even if he did the wrong things at the time. He remembered all those questions the man would ask him, personal things about how he was doing and what was going on. Now, Barnaby could appreciate the concern; hell, even enjoy it. But back then, he was just being a lonesome brat.

"Hey, uh," The bearded man lifted his head up, scratching at the back of his neck, "I didn't mean to—"

"Don't apologize." Barnaby was quick to interject. He was not angry, just a little forlorn. "You are right. I was a jerk back then. I'm sorry I couldn't appreciate what you were trying to do for me." Kotetsu smiled, but fidgeted in his barstool uncomfortably.

"Geez, Bunny," He looked over at his watch and chuckled to himself; eleven in the evening. "It's a bit early to stop drinking, but you've ruined the mood already."

"Then I'm sorry I've ruined your drinking mood." The younger man gave a smirk and finished off his drink. He almost looked happy to be done with the bar scene.

"Yeah, yeah," Kotetsu didn't believe him. He stood up, finished off his beer and began to shrug into his coat. "Walk me back to my place. I sober up quicker when walking."

* * *

The forecast had called for rain that night, and rain it did. Nothing heavy or serious, but a constant and clean drizzle that made people want to stay inside. The rain made the temperature very cool and sobering. Barnaby, being the clever and foresighted young man that he was, brought an umbrella for such occurrence. Kotetsu did not. Barnaby was a nice man though and shared his umbrella with his partner. Kotetsu still had the spin-vision from drinking, so he kept himself from swaying all over the sidewalk by grabbing onto the blonde's shoulder, following just a step behind.

"You are hopeless, Kotetsu." The younger teased. After five blocks, Kotetsu was still stumbling a bit and would pull on Barnaby's shoulder.

"I'm drunk, Bunny, not wasted; there's a big difference. Be thankful for that, at least." The older man managed to sputter out a laugh in good humor, but quickly stopped when he lost his balance again. His partner reached over with his free hand steadied Tiger's grip on his shoulder.

The sights and sounds of Stern Build were quite hypnotic at night and while it rained. Everything looked so different covered in a thin layer of water and the sparkles of the raindrops as they passed over illuminated business signs and street lights. The constant thrashing sound of car wheels against the slick pavement was loud, but dissipated in an instant. When Barnaby looked over at his companion, he was a little wet on his hat and hair, unable to keep himself under the umbrella consistently. He smiled.

After two more blocks, they stopped in front of a small grocery store and were waiting at the intersection for the traffic light to give them the signal to cross. Kotetsu leaned heavily on the younger man, staring intently at the light in hopes that would make it change its signal faster. Barnaby couldn't help himself from turning around and taking in his surroundings, mostly out of habit. He noted the people along the sidewalk, the colors of their umbrellas, which signs had which letters burnt out in them, and the lonely figure covered in a raincoat hunched over on a bench under the awning of a bookstore. It was a girl. He shook his arm to get his partner's attention.

"Hey, Kotetsu," The man leaned off of Barnaby and looked off towards the direction of where he was pointing. "I think that's Eden."

"I can't tell right now." The younger man rolled his eyes.

"I bet it's her. Come on." He yanked his arm and started to walk towards the sitter, Kotetsu clumsily following. The girl didn't move or seem to notice the two men approaching her. Carefully, Barnaby came around on one side, slowly and casually to try and not startle her. Nothing. When the blonde leaned over to get a good look at her face, her eyes were closed and her mouth ajar. She was sleeping.

"Sure does look like Eden." Kotetsu finally agreed, now close enough to recognize her even when drunk.

"Hey, Eden," Barnaby walked around and kneeled in front of the runaway to try and wake her up, his partner stood next to him, leaning over and pushing himself up on the man's shoulder. "Come on, wake up." He reached out and shook her a bit to get a reaction out of her. She lazily rolled open her eyes.

"Stand up. You're coming with us." Her response was slow and she just moved to sit up straight. She blinked her eyes but seemed unable to focus. "Hey, what's wrong?" Barnaby shook her again, thinking that she was just sluggish to wake up. Instead, she gave a frown and stared at him unhappily. Her face was flushed and there was a watery sheen to her skin, despite her raincoat being dry. The blonde reached out and touched her forehead; it was hot.

"Kotetsu, she's sick." He stood back up.

"She could be drunk, judging from the red in her cheeks."

"This is no time to joke, Kotetsu!" Barnaby dragged Eden to stand on her feet, much to her displeasure. While holding her steady, he moved to grab a hold of her bag too and forcibly slung it over one of Kotetsu's shoulders. The bearded man tried to be helpful, lending a hand to keep Eden on her feet too. With a drunk man on one shoulder and a sick girl leaning on the other side, Barnaby decided that he couldn't walk them both all the way to Kotetsu's place. He shuffled both of the helpless people to the edge of the street and hailed for a cab, his partner holding the umbrella at a funny angle.

"Forget it." He mumbled to himself when a yellow taxi finally pulled up for him. Barnaby opened up the rear passenger door and half pushed his baggage inside it.

"Hold it, hold it!" Kotetsu protested, clumsily sliding his way over to the furthest side. Barnaby was trying to push them all in the back too quickly and it nearly caused the older man to trip over himself. "The cab isn't going anywhere, Bunny!"

"Just take her." The blonde handed the ill teenager to his partner. "You two are giving me a lot of trouble tonight." He finally climbed into the car himself, making the back seat of the taxi cozy and close for the three passengers.

"Where to, sirs?"

Barnaby quickly gave the driver his address with a mild huff and the cab pulled out and onto the road. Eden gave a few ragged breaths from being smashed into the car, but otherwise didn't do much else. She really looked pathetic and managed to content herself by leaning over onto Kotetsu for support as she closed her eyes again. Kotetsu leaned against the car door for support in turn.

"What an interesting turn of events, eh, Bunny?"

* * *

Barnaby finally opened the door to his apartment, half dragging a teenager at his side. His partner sobered up really quickly during the cab ride and could walk on his own (with a little help from the wall). He entered first, and the older man followed close behind.

"Do you have any medicine, Bunny?" Kotetsu asked, closing the door behind them and turning on a few lights to the dark apartment.

"Kitchen, above the stove." He shrugged off his own jacket and he let the girl balance herself in her sick stupor. Then he helped her out of her own raincoat, tossing it to the older man to hang in the coat closet. Eden stumbled, but the blonde man caught her; finally fed up, he swept her up in his arms and began to carry her to his lonely living room chair. The veteran hero hung up the coats and removed his own before disappearing into the kitchen. When Barnaby set the girl down in the den, he walked off into his bedroom.

Kotetsu was the first to re-enter, carrying a handful of different drugs to treat Eden's symptoms. He was making his way for his partner's bedroom, but stopped when he saw Eden on the chair and adjusted his route.

"That crazy Bunny, why did he put you here…" He mused to himself as he knelt beside the girl.

"Because after we treat her, we're going to interrogate her." Barnaby had come back, and he had a thermometer with him. Kotetsu whipped around to look at the younger man approach.

"She's sick! We can't just assault her with questions while she's like this."

"She's also been missing for three weeks! The least we can do is figure out who her proper guardian is and let them know that she's alive."

Kotetsu had to turn away. Bunny had a good point. But all he wanted to do was treat the poor girl and put her to bed. Whatever was happening to her, she must be unhappy to make her run away.

"Fine." The elder man relented. "Let's treat her first and then we can ask questions."

"Fine." Barnaby leaned over the girl, pushing aside a few stray strands of brown hair and delicately placing the instrument in her ear to gauge her body temperature. "What have you given her so far?"

"Nothing yet. I don't know if she has the cold or the flu."

"Does it matter? Give her a little of everything."

"And drug the poor girl out of her mind?!" The younger man looked over at his partner, the glare from his glasses obscuring his eyes from Kotetsu's sight and a straight line forming his mouth. A moment passed. "Don't tell me that's how you treat yourself, Bunny…"

Silence.

"Oh my God…" Kotetsu mumbled to himself as he hid his face behind his large hand, rubbing his forehead and slowly dragging it over his face in astonishment. For a smart guy, Barnaby could do some stupid things. Then there was a high pitched beep; the thermometer. The blonde read the reading out loud.

"101.7."

"What's that in Celsius?"

"38.7."

"Wow. That's bad." Kotetsu turned his attention back to Eden. She gave a light cough and a wheeze, but otherwise looked as if she was trying to sleep. "Eden, I need you to answer a few more questions for me before I can help you." The girl knitted her brow but turned her head to look the tan man in the eye. She seemed to be paying attention.

"Do you have a headache?" Nod. "Body feel achy?" Nod. "You have a sore throat?" Shake. "Chest hurt?" Nod.

Kotetsu turned back at the medicine he had brought out, reading the boxes and labels on the bottles to see what they were supposed to fix. "She has the flu." He picked up one bottle and read the dosage on it. "How long have you been sick?" He said as he opened the lid and shook out a few pills. Eden held up three fingers.

"What does that mean? Three hours? Three days?" Eden nodded her head at the last one. "Three days?" She nodded again.

"Damn; forgot a drink." But Barnaby was way ahead of him. He had slipped out of Kotetsu's sight without him knowing and brought out a glass of water to him. He noticed the older man's mistake earlier when he recognized that most of the remedies were pills. "Oh. Thanks, Bunny."

The veteran hero presented the medicine to the girl, egging her to take them. She weakly took the pills out of his hand, placed them in her mouth, and took a drink of water with them. She handed the glass back to Kotetsu.

"How did you know she has the flu?" Barnaby asked, a little astonished by the man's deduction skills he just displayed.

"She has all the symptoms." He smiled widely.

"That's not what I mean." The younger partner folded his arms across his chest, unhappy with the answer.

"Oh." Kotetsu caught on. "Well, you can't give a baby seven different medicines hoping that one of them will work."

That's right. Kotetsu is a father. Barnaby stood quietly as he looked at his partner is a different light. He could almost see the man now as he was a few years ago, trying to tend to a sick daughter, freaking out over every little cough an infant Kaede made. How relieved the younger Kotetsu must have looked when his baby's temperature was finally going down. Perhaps falling asleep in the rocking chair in the nursery with the child in his arms. Barnaby then wondered if his parents ever did the same for him when he was a sick baby.

"Hey, Bunny," The blonde was jerked away from his thoughts and finally settled his gaze in the present world, watching as his partner stroked the back of Eden's gloved hand. "You okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine." He adjusted his glasses and smiled, trying to be reassuring.

"I can't get these gloves off." Kotetsu flipped the girl's hand over to reveal her palm and wrist.

"What the—" Black PVC gloves covered her hands and the man exposed a round silver lock in the wrist portion, successfully keeping the gloves from slipping off, or hell, even being taken off.

* * *

A/N: My traffic says I get a lot of visitors, but I hardly get any feedback. Oh well, I guess that means I'm doing a pretty decent job. Sorry for the delayed update too. I haven't been very motivated, but I think I found my groove again.

I hope everyone is enjoying themselves. :) Thanks for reading!


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

"Eden, what's up with the gloves?" Barnaby asked. His only reply was a sloppy sign that the girl made in her feverish state. It didn't help that it was a sign that he didn't understand.

"Go get her notebook, Bunny, if you insist on asking questions." The blonde did as what was intelligently asked of him, walking back to the front door of his apartment where Kotetsu laid her backpack. He unzipped it and began to rifle around the many things she crammed into it: mostly clothes, but he also pulled out a book and a small stuffed horse.

"Does it work with a key?" Kotetsu softly asked, still holding onto Eden's hand, occasionally stroking it. He really felt sorry for the poor girl. She nodded weakly. "Can you take the gloves off?" Shake of the head.

"I found her notebook." Barnaby declared, standing up and carrying it over. "But I found something better." As he held out the book for Kotetsu to take, he showed a small cell phone in his other hand, giving a small grin.

"Excellent job, Bunny!" The older man took the book and pencil, gently laying it across the girl's lap and placing her hands over it to keep it from falling off. "If you want anything, just write it down, okay?" The Wild Tiger noticed a crease form on Eden's forehead, then a frown form on her lips. She began to move as if to stand, but the man quickly gripped her shoulders and urged her back into the chair.

"Hey! Hey! You're really sick, kid. Just rest." She couldn't protest. Kotetsu was stronger than her and she was ill. The odds were against her. But she would watch and wait, saving what little energy she had left for when Barnaby opened her phone.

The veteran hero looked over his shoulder at Barnaby, trying his best to communicate his idea to his friend with his eyes. The kid was really smart and was getting good at it. A few seconds passed as his amber eyes locked with emerald ones, and slowly, the blonde just slipped the phone into his rear pocket as if he was completely disinterested in it. Kotetsu gave a grateful smile.

"Listen to him, Eden. You'll recover faster that way." He walked around the chair and found himself a seat on the floor, sitting crossed legged and staring at the girl. She returned the favor by staring back at him, half-lidded and drowsy.

Without a word, the duo had understood each other. They could see the determination in Eden's eyes to defy them, to prevent them from using her phone to contact her guardian. It was completely pointless to agitate her now, just to have her thrash around and make herself sicker. But if they just sat and waited, with the help of the medication, the runaway would eventually drift off to sleep. And with her soundly snoozing, Barnaby could finally begin to send her back home. It took longer than either of the men hoped for her to lull into slumber land, but after an hour and some soothing words on Kotetsu's part, Eden stopped fighting herself and finally went into a deep sleep.

"That took too long." Barnaby commented as he dug the girl's cell phone out of his pocket. Kotetsu was prodding the teenager ever so slightly just for good measure. She didn't respond.

"Who can you find, Bunny?"

"No one." The blonde went down the list of contacts Eden had on her phone, passing by full names but nothing stood out. Finally, a family member showed themselves. "Oh, wait. She has an uncle, apparently."

"Perfect. He's probably her guardian."

"I'm on it." Barnaby had the phone to his ear, the dial tone ringing. Then suddenly the other line picked up on the second ring. "Hello? This—"

"You better tell me where my niece is or I swear—"

"Whoa! Whoa!" That wasn't what Barnaby was expecting. Even Kotetsu heard what the uncle was saying and he jerked his head around to see how his partner would react. But now that the blonde thought about it, it was strange that a mute girl would call her uncle; he could understand the man's fear and anger. "This is Barnaby Brooks Jr., the hero. I just wanted to tell you that Eden is safe, sir."

"Oh my God…" The man muttered into the speaker. "Mr. Brooks…" The blonde thought that he recognized the voice.

"If you don't mind me asking, sir—"

"I'm very sorry, Mr. Brooks. That was very unprofessional behavior, especially coming from the Chief of Police."

"…" Barnaby had to stop thinking for a moment and align his thoughts properly. "… Commissioner James Clarkson?" Kotetsu's ears perked up and he immediately scuttled closer to the blonde, eager to eavesdrop.

"Yes, Mr. Brooks." The man confirmed, relief engulfing his voice. "I am so sorry you had to deal with Eden again."

"Sir, it's not a prob—"

"No no, Mr. Brooks. I can come get her right now; that is no problem." The earnest footsteps descending down a flight of stairs could be heard, along with the opening of doors and the jingling of keys. "Where are you? I don't want you to go out of your way."

"Ah," Barnaby was still trying to recover from the surprise. "You can come to my apartment, sir." And he relayed the physical address to the older man. "I'll tell security to look out for you so they don't give you trouble."

"Thank you so much, Mr. Brooks." And with that, he immediately hung up.

The blonde did the same, setting the phone on the floor next to him. He and Kotetsu stared at each other for a dubious moment and they started to put together the facts.

"So," Tiger began. "That was Mr. Clarkson?"

"Yes."

"But he was labeled as 'Uncle' on her phone?"

"Yes."

"So," He scratched at his chin thoughtfully. "That means that Clarkson is Eden's uncle." Barnaby furrowed his brow at his partner, a disappointed look; he had figured that out already. "No way!" He tried to wave it off with a hesitant smile.

"It makes perfect sense though!" The blonde retorted, startling the older man. "If Clarkson is her guardian, then that would explain why he was willing to bend the rules. As her employer and parent, he can watch her while she worked at the police station."

"That also explains the empty house!" Now Kotetsu was getting it, remembering the farewell dinner. "That's the Commissioner's house! He's the guardian that lives with her!"

"Exactly!" Then it hit him. The younger man quickly scrambled to his feet and threw himself over to Eden's bag again, opening up smaller pockets and emptying out their contents.

"Bunny, what are you doing?"

"Since she works for the police, I'm willing to bet Eden has some sort of identity card." That statement in turn caused Kotetsu to think of something as well. He went over to the sleeping girl, who still had her notebook in her lap, and he carefully slipped it out from under her hands. He opened it up to the very first page and found what he was looking for.

"Bunny," the tiger called, holding the book up for his partner to see. Barnaby was walking over triumphantly with a small wallet in his hand. "'Property of Eden Clarkson.'" The veteran hero read aloud from the front cover. The rookie opened the wallet and exposed the ID card for his partner to read as well.

"'Stern Build Police Force. Clarkson, Eden.'"

"Damn it." Kotetsu cursed with a wily grin, amused by how easily he was fooled. "The proof was so obvious. I can't believe we went around this long without knowing her last name!"

"It's just one of those details you don't think about, I guess." Barnaby mused, looking over the ID card again. A photo of Eden showed on one side with some basic information on the other: position, age, weight, hair color, eye color. Her relation to James Clarkson couldn't be denied. And the commissioner was quickly heading over to the apartment.

"Ah, damn! I didn't call security about the Commissioner yet!" Without hesitating, Barnaby dug out his red phone from his pocket and dialed the building's main office. He told them the guest he was expecting and they confirmed that security would be told. "Thank you." He concluded.

* * *

It only took half an hour for Clarkson to arrive, which was impressive considering the distance between his townhome and Barnaby's apartment. He politely knocked on the door and when the young man opened it for him; he beheld a tired and worn-down man. The Commissioner had terrible dark circles under his eyes and his clothes were wrinkled and disheveled. It was a completely different man from whom he saw for the first time at the police station, well-dressed and organized. But Barnaby figured that a niece missing for three weeks could drive a man to extremes.

"Thank you very much, Mr. Brooks." The older gentleman seized the blonde's hand and shook it vigorously as he stepped in. He quickly spotted Kotetsu, standing next to his niece and smiled.

"I should have known you were in on this too, Mr. Kaburagi." Clarkson moved to shake the other man's hand, where Tiger approached him in turn. "Thank you so much." He shook his hand very heartily as well. Kotetsu noticed that James' gaze looked around him and to the girl on the chair.

"Eden is sleeping, sir." The father began, getting a start on comforting the policeman. "I'm afraid that she's sick, so we gave her something to help her sleep it off."

"That is too kind of you two."

"Please," Barnaby interjected, coming up from behind, "Sit down and have something to drink while you're here."

"Thanks, but I really need to get Eden—"

"Mr. Commissioner," Wild Tiger interrupted and grabbed hold of the man's hands, furrowing his brow in a knowing expression, "It's past one in the morning. She's not going anywhere. The least you can do is sit down and relax for a bit before going back." The graying haired man hesitated, his forehead creasing in thought. The Hero pair could plainly see the exhaustion weigh on the man like a yoke and could only imagine that it felt worse than it looked.

"Just…" Clarkson finally relented, his voice sounding unsure. Kotetsu laid a hand on the man's shoulder and gently tried to turn him in the direction of the kitchen.

"Yes, just for a minute." The father knowingly comforted. "Just sit down long enough for the shock to wear off. I'm sure you even have questions for us."

"… Yeah." The policeman agreed, looking over his shoulder one last time to look at Eden before entering the kitchen. Wild Tiger graciously offered him a seat at one of only two chairs that the modest dining table had. Barnaby had gone to the cabinet and pulled out a glass, quickly filling it up with ice from the freezer and filling it up with water from his kitchen tap. The blonde set the glass in front of James and took the remaining seat opposite to him, folding his arms across the table top.

"How did you find her?" The Commissioner began, reluctantly fingering the drink offered to him. Kotetsu cleared out his throat and tapped the table right next to the glass twice, trying to hint to the man to finally drink. Clarkson couldn't help but faintly smile at Kotetsu's subtle message and finally raised the water to his lips and took a sip.

Since Barnaby was the sober one when the duo had found Eden, he explained the whole scene. How she was sitting alone in plain sight, her out-of-it nature, the realization she was sick, her weak attempts to fight back, and finally, just how recently they found her. Clarkson leaned back in his chair, his head facing the ceiling and his face in his hands.

"She's such a troublemaker." He muttered to himself.

"Yeah," the older teammate commented, smiling, "You know, Bunny and I never even realized that you two were related."

"Oh?" James lowered his hands. "Eden didn't tell you two?"

"She's not the sharing type." Kotetsu replied in a light-hearted manner.

"That's too true." The man heaved a heavy sigh. "I'm her uncle on her father's side. Richard Clarkson was my older brother and the previous City Police Commissioner. I was his right hand man in the department before he was murdered, so it was only natural that I take his spot after the smoke cleared." James's eyes betrayed his melancholy mood and the blonde was pleased with himself for offering the man water instead of alcohol.

"Commissioner Clarkson?" Barnaby spoke up. "I have a few questions about Eden, if I may ask." The policeman raised his brow in acknowledgement, his glum look slowly dissipating as the young man spoke.

"Yes, Mr. Brooks?"

"Why did Eden run away?" He unconsciously curled his right hand into a fist, eager to finally receive some answers. "What ever happened to those charges against her? What's with those weird gloves on her hands?" He managed to stop himself. One question at a time; take it easy. Kotetsu's eyes lowered in concern as he noticed his partner tense up. He kept his thoughts to himself though, deciding to carefully observe the younger man.

"That…" Clarkson raised a hand and pinched the bridge of his nose as if he had a headache, "Is a lengthy and ugly story."

* * *

A/N: I apologize; this is turning into the longest night ever. lol. But there is only one more chapter to wrap it up and then we can move on!

Thank you to everyone who reads. I hope you are enjoying it!


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten**

The explanation that Commissioner Clarkson gave was indeed lengthy and the details quite disturbing. When Eden was on leave from the police department, no suicides occurred despite members of the Touro mafia being held at the station. The case was turning dark for the girl and Clarkson had to pull a lot strings and favors to keep it off the news and keep the court small and private. The man had his suspicions about the prosecuting side, managing to dig up some muddy and questionable ties the lawyer and his clients had to the very organization at the center of the scandal. Well, that explained the interest and persistence of his opponent.

That was also the time when James Clarkson had a terrible feeling settle in his gut. The strongest lead he and the police could get from the crime scene of his brother's murder was a weak connection to the Touro mafia. None of the evidence was strong enough to convict anyone, so the suspects were set free. Understandably, Eden was distraught. Her uncle offered to take custody and he had her enrolled for therapy. Despite his best efforts, the therapy had resulted in little progress. Eden eventually cut her long hair one day by herself, refused to listen to her babysitters, and begged to go with her uncle to the police station. Between Eden crying almost every night and James's own guilt for being unable to find justice for his family, he relented.

"So, Eden has a vendetta for this Touro mafia." Kotetsu quietly mused to himself. James continued.

The man tried to confront his niece about his suspicions, approaching her timidly because of the sensitivity of the subject, but she would rebuke him with a stoic face. Eden didn't subdue his fears, but he tried to take comfort in the lack of evidence against her and the fact that the girl's powers only work to elicit the truth from people. Eventually, the trial reached a point where Eden had to take her own defense. The teenager took her seat, stiff and hardly responsive. A third party Sign Language translator relayed her answers from the lawyer. It was tense, but her questioning finally ended and quite peacefully. She descended from her seat and made her way over to her uncle. For a moment, the prosecutor and Eden passed each other and Eden had lunged forward and grabbed him.

The resulting incident became a quick and chaotic scramble on the floor of the court room between man and girl. Eden had a death grip on the man's arm, shoving her hands under his sleeve and latching on so tight her nails left marks on his skin. Immediately, she began emit a blue light around her, activating her power on the man. Within seconds, Clarkson had grabbed the girl and tried to rip her off the poor lawyer. Security guards soon joined in, pulling and yelling and finally freeing a Mister Anthony Sardone from the teenager's claws. The judge was so outraged, calling for order and banging his gavel, demanding to know the meaning behind the weak attack. Commissioner Clarkson turned the girl around, furious and about to demand the same thing, but he couldn't. Eden's eyes were wide and red, tears trailing down her cheeks uncontrollably and whimpering pathetically.

Anthony Sardone, once freed from the angry grips of a teenage girl, was trying to claw his eyes out. His screams were shrill as his own nails peeled away the skin at his cheeks. The muscles in his arms were strained and shaking, as if he was fighting himself. His clients and assistants held him down and managed to save him from himself. After a few more minutes of his solo tussle, he managed to regain control of himself.

James Clarkson's lawyer approached the Judge and begged for Court to be adjourned for that day; clearly the girl was feeling unwell and stressed. The lawyer promised for a full explanation the next day. Reluctantly, the Judge agreed to settle the matter another time and dismissed everyone. But he promised consequences.

"Oh my God," Kotetsu breathed out. He took a quick peek around the corner at Eden; still sleeping. Barnaby's jaw was slack from surprise.

"Yeah." James agreed, running a heavy hand through his graying hair. "No one was expecting _that_."

"I don't…" The blonde began, trying to find his words. "How… Why? What...?"

"Her emotions got the better of her. That's all."

"Why?"

"Eden is still upset over her parents' murders. She believes with every fiber of her being that the Touro Mafia was behind it." Clarkson pinched the bridge of his nose as his brows drew together. "With justice so close in her own hands, she took her chance."

"Then Eden's power…?" The man pushed his glasses up his nose.

"It's some sort of mind control or tactile hypnosis. The finer details are unimportant." A heavy sigh. "She's been lying to us this whole time about what she's been doing." The table gave a sudden bang when the commissioner's fist slammed into it. The glass rattled and the noise caused the Heroes to jump. "I'm sorry."

"I-It's okay, Mr. Commissioner." Kotetsu very slowly reached out a hand to the man's shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze. "It's understandable how you're feeling." Barnaby opened his mouth to say something, but closed it immediately. What he had to ask next would be a difficult pill to take, so he had to prepare himself. He took a deep breath, a hard swallow, and tried again.

"Did Eden run away from a juvenile correctional facility?"

"Bunny!"

"Thank God she didn't, no." The blonde let out a relieved sigh. His partner did the same. "She's with me. The Judge showed her a lot of mercy considering this whole mess."

"Then, would you be so kind as to finish the story, Commissioner Clarkson?"

"Yes, Mr. Brooks. I apologize." The older man took a long drink from his glass and continued.

"The next day, Eden and I met with the Judge privately. I told him her whole situation, her past, everything to help him understand. I was furious with Eden for lying to me and acting so rashly, but I know _why_ she did it. I had to get the Judge to see it too.

"He asked her how she pleads to the charges brought against her." Kotetsu guffawed.

"No matter how she pleaded, the Judge saw what she did to that lawyer guy." Tiger's tone seemed to convey annoyance. "He obviously already made up his mind about her." James continued his story.

"Eden pleaded guilty."

"Wise choice," Barnaby commented, folding his hands together. "Owning up to her actions." Kotetsu clicked his tongue.

"The Judge thought so too. He revealed his verdict the next day in front of us and the Touros. Eden was discharged from the police force indefinitely, ordered to attend therapy for unresolved issues, and forced to wear those gloves that you two have noticed."

"That's it?"

"Yes. He showed her great mercy."

"So, those gloves prevent Eden from using her powers?" Kotetsu asked.

"She can still activate it, but the process requires her to physically make skin-to-skin contact. Those gloves act as a buffer and with the lock, it is impossible for her to take them off herself."

"Who has the key?"

"Her therapist." Clarkson said it with a twinge in his voice, obviously irritated. "Who hasn't seen her in three weeks and no doubt thinks she's a danger to herself and everyone around her." He buried his face in his hands again, elbows resting on the table. The room fell silent with the duo trying to absorb everything that they were told tonight. It was a lot of information to process in a short amount of time.

"Eden is really lucky," Barnaby began quietly, "To have gotten off so easily. Considering everything, I'm very happy that it worked out so well for her."

"I know, Mr. Brooks. Thank you." James thanked the man across from him. Kotetsu had his head bowed slightly, biting his bottom lip and stroking his chin thoughtfully.

"Mr. Commissioner," He began, sounding a bit hesitant. The police officer turned around in his seat to look at the bearded man.

"Yes, Mr. Kaburagi?"

"How about…" He paused, taking a rapid glance at his partner before continuing. "How about you let Eden visit Bunny and I while she has to visit the therapist?"

"What?"

"What." Barnaby's face fell and he gave a disapproving look to the older man.

"Yeah." Kotetsu reached a hand around to the back of his neck. "I mean, she must be feeling really isolated and persecuted after everything, and she might feel better being around other NEXTs. She seemed to like us when we watched her before."

"Mr. Kaburagi," Clarkson's forehead wrinkled and his eyes drooped a little, a look of pure appreciation appearing on his face. "That's really thoughtful of you to offer." He paused, as if debating with himself. "Would you… Would it really be okay?"

"Yeah," He smiled. "I bet you're having a hard time trying to find someone to look after her anyway."

"… Thank you very much." If Kotetsu didn't know any better, he'd have thought that the commissioner was going to cry. "Thank you too, Mr. Brooks." He turned around and shook the blonde's hand unexpectedly. His green eyes were wide, but he didn't say anything. When Clarkson took his hands back and looked at his watch, he chuckled to himself and rubbed his forehead. "Wow. I should really be getting out of here."

"Yes. Go get some rest, Commissioner." Barnaby stood from the table and James followed. The three men gathered up all of Eden's belongings; her coat, her bag, her clothing (and stuffed horse). Her uncle swung the backpack over his shoulder and picked her up from the chair. The girl was sleeping like the dead. She was light in his arms from sickness and improper eating habits. Barnaby insisted he help the man down to his car to open doors and such since he had his hands full and Clarkson thanked him gratefully. Kotetsu offered to clean up the apartment and stayed behind. His partner gave him a strange look, but let the man do as he wished.

When Barnaby returned to his apartment, he wasn't sure what to expect but what he saw wasn't it. Kotetsu was sprawled out on his floor in the living room, his arm flung over his face and hiding his eyes. His chest rose and fell slowly with great, heavy breaths. If the blonde had learned anything about his partner, it was that he was showing all the signs that he was upset right now. With a sigh, the hero walked over to Wild Tiger and sat himself down rather ungracefully by his head.

"What's wrong, Kotetsu?" He supposed he should have been a little more gentle, but it was late and it was a long, hard night. When the older man remained silent, his jaw stiffening, the blonde reached out a hand and plucked at his long, brown bangs in an affectionate manner. "Come on, tell me."

Kotetsu removed his arm but cast his golden eyes away and frowned, an utterly lost look upon his face. He heaved a sigh but remained silent. Barnaby, getting impatient, gave a firm tap to the side of the older man's face with his palm. It startled the man and caused him to focus his sight on his partner's face; his green eyes suddenly became a bit unnerving.

"I'm your partner, aren't I?" He rubbed his thumb across the man's cheek and the atmosphere suddenly changed. Both heroes became as still as water. Slowly, a strange heat rose in their faces and for once in their lives they had the same thought run across their minds.

"Yeah," Kotetsu managed to say. Barnaby removed his hand. "You're my partner."

"Good." The blonde clenched the hand he had touched Kotetsu with and slowly unfurled it. He tried to put it out of his mind. "Now, what's wrong?"

"It's just…" Tiger paused, remembering what was bothering him. "I can't believe what Eden did."

"What do you mean? In the court room?" The man thought that considering the girl's past, how she reacted was understandable.

"No. I mean the criminals at the station." Barnaby let out a knowing 'ah' sound, suddenly realizing what his partner meant. He knew how sensitive Kotetsu was about human lives, criminals or not. "I can't believe that she…" He couldn't finish his sentence.

"Hey." The younger interrupted. "Are you really going to dwell on it this late? I bet you can't even think straight after all that happened tonight." He could see the dark circles under the man's eyes and knew he would agree. The older man sighed.

"You're right, Bunny." His amber eyes drifted away again. "As usual." A weak smirk found its way to his lips. "Mind if I crash here tonight?" Barnaby hesitated, unsure if the floor or his chair would be comfortable enough for his friend. His own bed would be much more preferred, but it was across the city and he didn't trust Kotetsu to make the journey back in his exhausted state.

"Yeah, you can." He finally relented, moving to stand. "Let me get you a blanket. I suggest you take the chair; it'd be better for your back." He walked towards his bedroom, smirking over his shoulder. Tiger gave a dry laugh in return, recognizing that his junior was poking fun at his age.

"Ha. Ha. How nice of you to think of my frail state, Lil' Bunny." He raised himself slowly off of Barnaby's floor, feeling a dull ache in his lower back. Well damn, he thought to himself. But he made his way over to the leather chair and plopped into it just fine. Within the minute, his partner brought him a blanket, as promised. Kotetsu wondered why it was pink but decided to keep his mouth shut.

"Thank you, Bunny."

"Good night, Kotetsu." Barnaby smiled and was about to turn and go to bed himself, but a large, warm hand grabbed a hold of his wrist. He froze and finally turned around just enough to eye the man's tan hand. After another moment, he slowly moved his eyes to look the older man in the face.

"Good night, Bunny." Kotetsu gave a friendly squeeze, rubbing his thumb across the man's delicate, pale skin on the underside of his wrist, not unlike the way Barnaby had done to him earlier. "Sweet dreams." He finally let go.

"You too." Barnaby stood his ground a minute longer, examining his wrist and looking back at his partner before walking off. Tiger watched the young man's back retreat back into the hallway and into his room. When he was finally out of sight, he rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand and drew the pink blanket up to his chest. He fidgeted in the seat, wondering if it was the weird angle of the chair or how narrow it was that kept him from settling down. Somehow, he knew that there were bigger obstacles that prevented him from sleeping easy.

* * *

A/N: The longest night ends! Yay! The beginning of this chapter fought me, but I did the best I could. I hope the events and results aren't too crazy to digest, but I think I balanced it out with the personal exchange between Kotetsu and Barnaby. I hope. :)

Thanks for reading!


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven**

"If all of this is bothering you, why did you suggest it?" The blonde had a very flat look on his face, unamused and annoyed that his partner was behaving in such a contrary way. Kotetsu had his face buried in his rough hands, groaning. The pair was sitting on the steps of Apollon Media's Headquarters; the day was bright but pleasant. A cool wind blew past and ruffled Barnaby's hair, causing him to reach back and fix it unconsciously. He couldn't even get Kotetsu to look at him, because of the position he took or because he was conflicted with himself, was still yet to be determined. Almost a week had passed since the elder man put forth his suggestion to the City Police Commissioner and he had been behaving strangely ever since then.

"Because I don't want it to both me!" Tiger was making no sense and Barnaby could feel his eye twitch with frustration.

"You need to articulate yourself better if you want me to understand."

"You know why I'm hung up 'bout this!" Kotetsu raised himself to look his partner in the eye. "Eden _killed_ people, Bunny."

"I know." He replied firmly. "What is so hard to understand about an upset girl using her powers like that? And an unstable one, at that? There are plenty of murderous NEXT criminals out there, many that you've put away, I'm sure."

"That's not my point, Bunny." He huffed.

"Then what is your point?"

"Lives shouldn't be taken lightly! Eden should know that between her age and her job!"

"Not everyone is given a tremendous respect for life like you, Kotetsu! Most people need to learn it. And based on Eden's history, I'm not surprised that she does."

"How can you say that, Bunny?!"

"Because I've been through the same things, remember?!" Kotetsu recoiled. He was suddenly grateful that it was a slow time of day and almost no one was around them to hear their fight. Barnaby heaved a sigh; he was getting a headache. "Orphaned at a young age and haunted by an unsolved crime. It's actually really eerie how similar our pasts are." He hung his head and rested his forehead against his palm. Kotetsu held his tongue for a moment to let the man breathe, but he wasn't quite done yet.

"Yeah, Bunny, but..." He began in a softer tone, a little put off by the sharp look he received from Barnaby as he turned his head in his hand. "You knew that killing people wasn't the answer. You hunted Ouroboros to bring them to justice, not murder them."

"You're wrong, Kotetsu." The older man stiffened where he sat, surprised by the calm and even look in the man's green eyes as he said that. "At four, I wanted to find my parents' murderers. At nine, I wanted them dead. At sixteen, I was hungry for vengeance and their lives still. And when I finally found Jake, I still wanted to squeeze the life out of him with my bare hands." Kotetsu knitted his brows together, feeling incredibly pitiful for the blonde next to him. He knew that his parents' deaths were hard on him for his whole life, but he never realized how much anger it brought him as well.

"Even at twenty-four, I knew that killing him wouldn't bring my parents back or give me any real peace, but that primal instinct, the notion of an eye for an eye, still haunted me. My reason won out in the end." He paused, running a hand through his pale hair as if debating to say something else. "And seeing your respect for life helped me too. If everyone had your philosophy, Kotetsu, the world would be a much better place."

Wild Tiger could feel the heat rise in his cheeks at the compliment. He only hoped his darker complexion would hide his modest blush. "Thanks, Bunny." He said. "But—"

"Imagine if you were killed tomorrow; how do you think Kaede would react?" The older man recoiled again, his eyes wide and disbelieving that Barnaby could say such a thing.

"Bunny! Don't say-!"

"Eden was the same age as Kaede is now when she lost her parents." The blonde was persistent. "Imagine your daughter, confused and trying to make her way in life with friends, growing up and making the awkward transition from child to teenager, finding out her own morals and values, and then losing you; the one adult she trusts and loves the most in her life."

Kotetsu's instinct was to make a joke about how Kaede was more upset than loving towards him and would be more devastated if her grandmother died instead of him, but he knew that wasn't the point of Barnaby's hypothetical and kept his mouth shut. How the young man described it sounded so personal and knowing. But when Kotetsu tried imaging his daughter coping with his lose, he had to pull away. Just thinking about his little girl grief-stricken made his heart twist and pinch painfully; he never wanted Kaede to feel that way. She had already been through it once.

"You're not gonna let me win this one, are you, Bunny?" He hung his head, his shoulders slouching dramatically as he rested his arms on his knees.

"Not everyone is as strong or as brave as you, Kotetsu." Barnaby laid his hand on the man's shoulder, giving it a firm and reassuring squeeze. "Your sense of justice and philosophy are to be admired too. But you don't scorn the child that hates dogs because one bit his hand. You can only teach him that not all dogs are bad and to see the error of his thinking." The senior partner gave an amused snicker.

"I don't know if your comparison really works, Bunny."

"I thought it was a good analogy." He gave a firm pat on Kotetsu's back to show his lighter mood. "So, will Eden bother you today?"

"Nah, I don't think so. You enlightened me." His amber eyes locked with Barnaby's and he smirked, hoping his thankfulness was showing through. "I still don't agree with her actions, but I think I can move past her mistakes."

The pair were finally feeling settled around one another, all tension and anxiety gone. Kotetsu felt so thankful to have all that stress lifted off of him thanks to his partner's insight, and Barnaby was just happy to have the man back to his usual, smiling self. How the older man went about moping and feeling edgy drove him up a wall and made him uncomfortable too. He only wished Kotetsu was more open with his feelings, otherwise he could have helped him out earlier. Then a thought struck the young man as he rested his chin in his palm.

What if Kotetsu was hiding other things from him? The older man was more than happy to spread his good mood around and talk with his friends about their problems, always inquiring about their health and lives. But what if despite the man's outgoing personality, he was holding back? Hiding his own fears and issues from everyone else for whatever strange reason of his? Barnaby slid his emerald eyes over to his partner, carefully studying him out of the corner of his eye. It was completely possible, but should he pry now?

No; the blonde held himself back. Not today. One hurdle was overcome and it was best not to overwhelm the man. He had just proven that he could be support for Tiger if he so desired; now, if he chose to seek him out again was another matter. Barnaby tried to calm his nerves by pushing the thought out of his mind. The two were expecting company and she was going to be a handful.

* * *

Three o'clock rolled around and a not-so-subtle black car came rolling up in front of Apollon Media. The Hero team had no hesitations about who it was, but were a little surprised by how early their guest had arrived. From the driver's side, a familiar young man stepped out, his brown hair and loose tie waving in the wind: Detective Verre. From the back seat, a healthier looking Eden stepped out with her backpack over one shoulder, notebook and pen in one gloved hand. She looked miserable. Her ex-partner came over quickly, gingerly offering his arm for her to take, which she did. Barnaby and Kotetsu both stood and walked over to meet them half way. When they met, Eden didn't look up and she had dark circles under her eyes.

"Good afternoon Mr. Brooks and Mr. Wild Tiger."

"Good afternoon, Detective." Kotetsu managed a smile.

"Are you sure you guys don't mind Eden tagging along with you today?" The question was unexpected; the cop was usually more stoic than this. He had an uncertain look in his eyes, his brow furrowing a little. A silence threatened to follow, but the blonde was quick to react.

"Of course not. We wouldn't have suggested it if we didn't want her around." Finally, Eden lifted her eyes a little to look at Barnaby like a shy deer.

"Besides," Kotetsu added, "Who else would she be with?" Surely Verre and Clarkson were too busy most of the day to give her the attention she needed. And she wasn't going to the police station, that's for sure.

"She's been with her therapist." The air became much gloomier, and Tiger felt like he should have bit his tongue instead. But the detective was quick to recover. "The Commissioner and I are really thankful to you two. Please, if there is anything we can do for you and the other heroes in the future—"

"We don't do this for favors, sir!" Kotetsu waved his hands around with his familiar goofy grin. "We help out because we care." Barnaby nodded his agreement and smiled. It seemed to put the man at ease and he finally smiled too.

"Well then," He withdrew his arm from the teenager and looked down at her, grabbing a hold of her shoulders and turning her towards him. "Have a good day, Eden." He brought her against his chest and gave her a firm hug. After a moment, she returned the gesture. Such a display of affection surprised the Heroes and they quickly became embarrassed for witnessing. Barnaby was quick to make a few deductions from what he knew about their relationship. Clarkson mentioned that Verre practically baby-sitted the child at the police station ever since she came into her uncle's custody at the age of nine. Then when her powers developed and she was old enough to be trusted, she became his partner in investigations. For seven years they had time to bond; no doubt that he must view Eden as a little sister by now.

When they parted, Detective Verre gave a very formal bow to the Heroes, thanked them again, slipped into the suspicious black car, and drove away (most likely back to work). The girl had watched him walk away and after staring down the street for a moment, she finally turned back to face her temporary guardians. She didn't look happy by any stretch of the meaning, but she wasn't angry like their first gathering either. Just pitiful.

Barnaby expected his partner to speak first, since he was the most gregarious and happy to lead the way, but he could only smile awkwardly at the girl. The blonde knitted his brow; he must still have some reservations about her. But the smile was something, so maybe he took the words to heart and he was just taking his time to warm up. So the rookie spoke first, reaching his hand out in a friendly gesture.

"It's okay, Eden. We—" He let out an 'oumfh' sound and staggered backward a step to regain his balance. The girl had flung herself at him, burying her head against his chest and wrapping her arms around him in a hug. Barnaby became very flustered and confused, unsure how to react. He looked over to Kotetsu, asking for help with his eyes, but his senior only shrugged his shoulders, just as lost as the young man. "Um…" He hesitantly patted the girl's shoulders, but she didn't stay long.

She let go and tossed herself against Kotetsu now, hiding her face in his black and white vest and giving him a tight hug too. The man was better prepared and didn't stumble back like his partner did, but he was just as bewildered about what to do. When Eden wasn't letting go, the father did what came natural to him when a little girl pitched herself at him in a fuss; he wrapped one arm around her shoulders and rested his other hand on top of her head, giving it an affectionate pet.

"Hey now," He began, voice showing a hint of playfulness in it, "you aren't crying now, are you?" He teased, fully expecting to hear hiccups and sniffling, but was again stunned when Eden looked up to him immediately, looking a little pathetic but with no tears in her eyes. She shook her head at him for good measure. "Oh. I see."

Eden withdrew herself from Kotetsu, taking a few steps back so she could look at both men properly. She bowed her head, lifted, put her fingertips to her lips and extended it back out to them. The pair had remembered that sign and opened their mouths to protest but the teenager put up her hand in silence and whipped out her notebook to a clean page, scribbling down as quickly as she could. Finished, she presented it to them.

'I'm really grateful that you guys still accept me, despite my flaws and issues. Thank you so much.'

"Aw, Eden," Kotetsu blurted out, reaching a hand to rub the back of his neck, feeling sore about how he thought of her just an hour or so ago. "Let's not over-think this, okay? You are who you are and what is done is done." He hurriedly changed the subject. "What was up with the detective hugging you? He's usually really strict."

Eden scribbled away on the paper in a flash, turning the book over again.

'We've been together for seven years. When Uncle wasn't there, I had Luke. He's sort of like an adopted older brother to me.' Just as Barnaby had guessed.

"How old does that make him?" Kotetsu thought that the man looked awfully young to have worked for the police for so long.

'28.'

"Enough of the tangents." Barnaby spoke up. "Have you been going to school, Eden?" The girl shook her head.

'My therapist doesn't think that peer interaction would benefit my current state. I've been receiving all my school work at home.'

"Then we know someone who would love to see you!" Kotetsu flashed a smile and Barnaby's chest felt lighter; he was going to get along with the girl just fine. The older man suggested a taxi to their new destination, but Eden really wanted to take a motorcycle ride again. This flustered the father, and he protested. "Why?! I thought you were afraid of motorcycles! You just want to see Bunny and me squeeze onto that pink motorbike again for kicks and giggles!"

"Hey! It's mostly white!"

* * *

A/N: I'm reaching a point in this story where it can go into a thousand different directions and I'm overwhelmed over which road to take. The next chapter in particular has been rough. But that you everyone for being patient and I hope this is satisfactory. c:


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